The defendant was accused of owning around 9,800 pictures and almost 75 movies between 2015 and 2017. The pictures all depicted young girls aged 6 to 14 wearing bikinis. According to the police’s chief investigator, such images also qualify as child pornography under the law.
During the hearing, the investigator explained that Europol had informed him about illicit images depicting a 6 to 10-year-old girl being downloaded from a Luxembourgish address.
Police searched a suspect’s home in March 2017. When the man was later questioned at the police station, he immediately confessed to having owned similar material for 10 years. He testified that he had initially stumbled upon a couple of pictures by accident. The material piqued his interest, he explained, and an addiction quickly ensued. According to the defendant, he had struggled to get away from child pornography countless times but found himself unable to do so.
The accused felt relief when police ultimately came to his home as he could finally start fresh, the chief investigator said.
The defendant’s lawyer highlighted that his client did not have a criminal record, that he never denied the charges and that he had immediately admitted guilt. He also started therapy. For these reasons, he demanded a lenient sentence.
The representative of the public prosecutor’s office similarly emphasised that the defendant never denied the charges and showed himself willing to start psychiatric treatment.
She consequently demanded a 2-year suspended prison sentence with regular psychiatric follow-ups and a fine.
The verdict will be rendered on 23 January.
