26-year-old man sentenced to 10 months probation for distributing child pornography

Created: 04/09/2022, 08:01

A 26-year-old from the Weilheim-Schongau district was sentenced to ten months' probation for possessing and distributing child pornography.

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The Weilheim district court has sentenced a 26-year-old to a suspended sentence of ten months for distributing child pornography. 

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"I wanted it to be exposed at some point and I also knew that it would come," said the defendant.

The student from a village in the district had prepared a speech after fully admitting the crime through his lawyer.

He explained in detail to the presiding judge, Stefanie Rainer, why in 2017 he loaded around 300 images with child pornographic content onto his computer via relevant chat rooms and why he in turn distributed the corresponding images further.

It was a cry for help, the young man said.

He had severe psychological problems, he explained, listing eating disorders, panic attacks, depression, fear of failure, grief over the loss of his grandmother and uncle, and suicidal thoughts.

Child pornography seemed to be the only way to achieve “an escape from this reality”.

“I wanted to compensate for the strain.

But I knew that I was doing something wrong,” said the young man, who was surprised at the time that it was relatively easy to get such pictures.

The victims: Very young children aged between one and five years

He denied pedophile tendencies, which was surprising, because the shocking image files showed only young, even very young children aged one to about five years, and in a form that judge Stefanie Rainer sharply condemned.

"The images show severe abuse compared to other cases," she said.

His confession and his cooperation with the police when the police examined his computer spoke in favor of the accused.

A protection program tailored to these cases had led to the IP address of the student and he could be unmasked.

Accused receives suspended sentence and has to go to sex therapy

Rainer stayed with her verdict on the prosecutor's application, which demanded an eight-month sentence, the defense even thought only three months for crime and guilt appropriate.

The court agreed on probation, since the student has no criminal record and a favorable social prognosis was certified for him.

Compulsory sex therapy was added to the condition, which he is not allowed to break off on his own.

The student had already given himself treatment beforehand.

"But you also have to feel that you've done something wrong," said Rainer and imposed an additional 120 hours of community service, which the student has to work through over the next few months under the supervision of his probation officer.