The Debrecen District Court prosecuted the juvenile boy who requested and received nude pictures from three girls. In one case, the accused also passed the pornographic images to a third party. The prosecutor’s office indicted the juvenile at the end of December 2020 for the crime of child pornography and other crimes. In the indictment for the execution of the sentence, the prosecutor’s office proposed that the district court impose a term of imprisonment on the juvenile in the juvenile prison without holding a trial, which he would suspend for a probationary period, order probation from all occupations and activities related to the education, supervision, care and treatment of persons under the age of 18.
The defendant was sentenced by a court on April 6, 2021, without a trial. Within the statutory time limit, upon receipt of the sentence, the juvenile defendant, his counsel, and his legal representative filed a request for a hearing, so it did not become final at the time.
The court set a date of 6 September 2021 for the preparatory hearing in the case.
At the preparatory hearing, the juvenile defendant admitted to committing the crime in accordance with the indictment and waived his right to a trial, which he accepted by court order.
According to the facts established by the court, the now 16-year-old juvenile began corresponding in 2018 through an online application with a minor victim. The then-still accused in early 2019 asked the underage girl to send a nude picture of herself. The victim complied with the request, and then the boy asked the little girl for another picture, which she no longer wanted to take, and in March 2019 also severed the online connection with the accused. The accused, who was still a child at the time, tried to reconnect with the victim under pseudonyms but failed. The juvenile defendant registered with a new profile on January 9, 2020, and re-contacted the girl, also sending her a message asking her to send another intimate picture of herself. The juvenile accused threatened the victim that if she did not comply with this, he would send the previously acquired image of him to the victim’s acquaintances and friends. The victim did not send another picture of herself, so around 10 January 2020, the defendant sent the picture previously sent by the little girl to one of the victim’s classmates, who immediately deleted it and notified the victim of the incident.
In January 2020, the juvenile defendant also contacted two juvenile girls about profiles created under a pseudonym through an Internet application. He asked the victims to send a nude picture of themselves because if not, he would edit one and send it to the victims ’acquaintances. One of the 13-year-old victims sent a nude picture of herself as a result of continuous messages and demands, while the father of the 14-year-old girl became involved in message exchanges with the other victim, as a result of which the juvenile accused did not send more messages and the victim did not send a pornographic picture.
Judge Dr. Emri Kinga found the juvenile accused guilty of a crime of child pornography and an attempt to commit coercion. Therefore, the defendant was sentenced to 1 year in prison as a collective punishment, the execution of which was suspended for a probation period of 3 years. The imprisonment imposed shall be carried out in a juvenile prison if its execution is ordered.
During the probationary period, the 16-year-old accused is under probation. In addition, the Debrecen District Court required the juvenile accused to participate in value correction training as a separate rule of conduct. In his reasoning, the judge pointed out that, compared to the sentence imposed in the penitentiary, the court had refused to ban him from engaging in a definitive occupation for reasons that deserved special consideration. No new criminal proceedings have been instituted against the juvenile since the crime, he is constantly studying, there has been a positive change in his life and he has regretted his actions. In making the decision, the court also kept in mind that the juvenile accused was raised in a loving, attentive, caring family, which, along with probation, is sufficient to learn legal compliance. In the case of a ban from a definitive occupation, the reason deserving special consideration can only be taken into account against a minor.
The judgment of the Debrecen District Court is not final, the prosecutor has set aside three working days to file a statement of appeal, while the accused, his lawyer and the legal representative have taken note of the decision.
Debrecen District Court
