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Case 22-1426, Document 59, 02/28/2023, 3475902, Page67 of 113

the sexual abuse of a child. Thus, we conclude that § 3283 is
inapplicable....

Id. at 817.

In Diehl, the Fifth Circuit has similarly interpreted § 3283 through a
categorical lens. The defendant was convicted of producing child pornography
under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a). To determine whether the defendant’s offenses were
“offense[s] involving the sexual…abuse of a child” under § 3283, the Court looked
not to the facts of the case but, rather, “the language of the relevant statutes.”
Diehl, 775 F.3d at 720. The Court expressly cited Coutentos and held that §
2251(a) was an “offense involving the sexual … abuse of a child,” as the statute
“prohibits using or inducing children under the age of 18 to engage in sexually
explicit conduct for the purpose of creating a visual depiction.” Id. (citing
Coutentos, 651 F.3d at 816-17).

B. The District Court erred in applying § 3283 retroactively

Even if the District Court were correct to afford § 3283 a case-specific rather
than categorical construction (and it was not), it erred again when it held that the
April 30, 2003 amendment to that provision—extending the statute of limitations
for the life of the accuser—reached back to attach to conduct occurring before its
enactment. Contrary to what the District Court held, the 2003 amendment was not
retroactive.

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