Child pornography: acquitted after practical test
Created: 01/11/2023 16:46
By: Helena Grillenberger
Because he had child pornography content on his cell phone, a 19-year-old Forstinninger was now on trial.
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
A 19-year-old Forstinninger had to answer before the Ebersberg district court because child pornographic content had been found on his mobile phone.
Forstinning – Being invited to a large WhatsApp group, not reading every message, but always being active in the group yourself – what many know has now become a 19-year-old's undoing.
The Forstinninger found himself in front of the Ebersberg district court yesterday because child and youth pornographic content had been found on his mobile phone.
The investigators became aware of the then 18-year-old because he himself had sent pornography to the group - albeit "adult pornography".
But they found what finally brought the young man to court on his cell phone: five pictures, from infants to 17-year-olds.
Images were automatically saved to the phone
The pictures were sent via the group, and his cell phone saved them automatically without ever looking at the pictures himself, the 19-year-old explained through his lawyer.
With the flood of messages that come together every day in a group with over 500 members, he did not take note of every message.
At first, judge Dieter Kaltbeitzer was a bit skeptical about this statement.
However, the police officer called as a witness explained that the pictures were sent as stickers.
The defendant did not have to actively load them, but they were automatically in the mobile phone's memory when the app was opened.
He also confirmed that the defendant's cell phone was broken and that it was difficult to see anything on the flickering screen.
Acquittal despite pictures on the cell phone
That got the judge thinking.
With the help of the cell phones of the law enforcement officers, he checked whether the accused should have scrolled through all the messages when opening the group, or whether only the most recent messages were actually displayed.
Based on the knowledge gained from this, he acquitted the 19-year-old.
"It cannot be refuted that you did not know that the pictures were sent," he justified his judgment.
The rest of the pornographic material that was found on the Forstinninger's cell phone also did not allow any conclusions to be drawn about a penchant for child pornography.
The defendant's mother had followed the hearing in the hall.
In front of the hall they both fell into each other's arms, relieved.
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hgr
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