Kansas Parent Sues Adult Sites Over Age Verification Law Violations
An Olathe mother has filed suit against operators of Jerkmate, Chaturbate and other adult sites on behalf of her 14-year-old son, who she says accessed online pornography despite a state law requiring age verification. Legal complaints against adult sites are mounting in Kansas as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether age verification laws are constitutional.
The Kansas Age Verification Law of 2024
It’s one of the first legal challenges related to an age verification law Kansas passed in 2024. On sites where 25% or more of the pages contain content deemed “harmful to minors,” the law requires steps to verify Kansas users are 18 or older. However, age verification advocates say that the landing page of an adult website prompts a user to click a button to indicate they are 18 or older and this does little to keep minors from accessing pornography online.
Details of the Lawsuit and Allegations
The complaint identifies the teen as “Q.R.” In August 2024, it says he found an old laptop his mother had forgotten about in a closet. “Q.R., using his mother’s old laptop, had unfettered access to the internet and began searching for pornography.” The teen accessed those sites 185 times in the span of two months, per the lawsuits. Those companies violated Kansas’ age verification and consumer protection laws, the complaints allege — which could mean tens of thousands of dollars in damages per violation.
Legal Representation and Defendants
The lawsuit accuses companies associated with the following domains of failing to comply with Kansas’ age verification requirements:
- jerkmate.com
- chaturbate.com
- superporn.com
- hentaicity.com
Joining as co-counsel in the latest legal complaints is the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, or NCOSE, an anti-pornography non-profit based in Washington, D.C. Benjamin Bull, General Counsel for NCOSE, said he hopes this lawsuit will “open up the floodgates” of similar challenges based on age verification laws in various states.
National Context and Legal Implications
Texas’ version of the policy is subject to a First Amendment challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court. That ruling, expected in the coming months, could have implications for similar laws in Kansas and dozens of other states. In January, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit in Shawnee County District Court under the same age verification policy. The company in that case, SARJ, LLC, recently responded to the suit, saying it cannot be held liable as a foreign corporation.
Based on the legal complaints, the following sites are identified as failing to meet regulatory standards:
| Website Domain | Legal Violation Alleged |
|---|---|
| jerkmate.com | Failing to comply with age verification requirements |
| chaturbate.com | Failing to comply with age verification requirements |
| superporn.com | Failing to comply with age verification requirements |
| hentaicity.com | Failing to comply with age verification requirements |