A frail young man appeared in court Tuesday afternoon. Arms crossed and head bowed, he appeared for possession, habitual consultation, recording and distribution of pornographic images of minors.
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A frail young man appeared in court Tuesday afternoon. Arms crossed and head bowed, he appeared for possession, habitual consultation, recording and distribution of pornographic images of minors.
“Unbearable Videos”
The gendarmerie was alerted on February 22, 2024 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an American organization that fights child exploitation. It reported 13 files saved on the defendant’s Dropbox account. President Adoul mentioned the “unbearable” content of four videos among these files. “Recordings of rape, in which we see Asian minors under the age of 15, some of whom are 5 years old, performing sexual acts on adults.” Dead silence.
The defendant, a 26-year-old Spanish man living in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, admits to the facts. He initially claims to have viewed these documents “out of curiosity” and assures that he “never wanted to act on them”. He explains that he joined three WhatsApp groups to help him overcome a difficult situation, which were ultimately groups for sharing child pornography images. He ends up admitting that he is naturally attracted to bodies that have not gone through puberty. The defendant even consumed this type of content “more or less three times a week” before his arrest.
Malaise palpable
Prosecutor Belot struggles to hide his discomfort with the case: “I had trouble hearing the defendant’s words.” He is requesting a one-year suspended prison sentence, an obligation to seek psychological care and an obligation to follow training or work. The magistrate adds a five-year ban on exercising an associative or professional activity in contact with minors, the confiscation of seals, and registration in the Automated Judicial File of Perpetrators of Sexual or Violent Offenses (Fijais). The defendant’s defense joined these requests, with Mr. Deflandre specifying that the latter needed to work psychologically.
The young man was found guilty of the charges against him. He was given a one-year suspended prison sentence, ordered to undergo psychological care and to follow training or work. He will also be banned from engaging in any associative or professional activity involving minors for five years, and will be registered with the Fijais.
