On April 11, 2022, the Debrecen District Court pronounced a verdict in the case of the accused who forced several underage girls to send pictures and videos of themselves with pornographic content. In addition, the court found him guilty of other crimes.
The court found the accused guilty of the crime of sexual coercion, an attempt to commit sexual coercion, the crime of child pornography, 5 a crime of coercion, 9 an attempt to commit coercion, and misuse of personal information. Therefore, the now 24-year-old accused was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison as collective punishment and banned from practicing public affairs for 5 years. In addition, it permanently banned all occupations and activities related to the education, supervision, care, and treatment of persons under the age of 18. The man may be released on parole after serving two-thirds of the sentence.
The man was trusted by young girls
According to the verdict, the then 21-year-old defendant created two pseudo-profiles on an Internet community site in 2018, which he used to initiate conversations with girls who were typically under the age of 18 through a messaging service. During the conversations with the fake profiles, the accused repeatedly asked his interlocutors for images of lingerie, naked, and occasionally with serious oppression of sex. The defendant also sent several photographs to the young girls, which he claims were taken by him, in order to gain the trust of the young girls, but those topless pictures were taken by another young man who was one of the victims in the case. The images were downloaded by the defendant from the Internet and used without the victim’s permission.
With the unauthorized use of the young man’s image, the accused forced or attempted to force several young girls to send pictures of themselves wearing lingerie, in the form of nudity, or pornography.
In one case, in January 2018, the defendant contacted a then 21-year-old young girl with whom he began talking about an intimate topic. Shortly afterward, the girl voluntarily sent several pictures of herself in a nude and shameful pose at the request of the accused. After obtaining the pictures, the conversation continued, and the defendant repeatedly asked the girl to meet with him. In the message, the victim said she did not want to keep in touch with him and did not even want to meet the man because she already had a serious relationship. The accused then threatened the victim with sending the previously acquired nude pictures of the girl to the victim’s current boyfriend if she did not meet him, and demanded additional pictures. The accused’s threat caused serious fear in the victim, so she sent two shameful pictures of herself after that.
He also forced a 12-year-old girl from Debrecen to send him nude photos
The accused similarly networked a 12-year-old girl from Debrecen who initially refused the request. The man then threatened that if she did not send a half-naked picture of herself, he would edit their conversation and share it with others, including the victim’s parents. The child was frightened by this and, as a result of the threat, sent pictures of herself to the accused in a bra or naked. The chat continued, the accused pushing for more pictures of the little girl and the prospect that if she did not comply, he would share her pictures with others, which caused serious fear in the victim.
Another 12-year-old girl from Miskolc was a victim, he pushed her to send him half-naked photos. The little girl sent a picture of herself, but not a topless picture, so in various ways, the man continued to threaten the girl but did not reach the target, the victim interrupted the conversation at one point, so the accused’s act remained in the experimental phase.
During a conversation with a 21-year-old girl from Nyíregyháza, the defendant received pictures of the victim in a bra, which he later used to demand more such pictures. During his threat, the accused offered the prospect that if he did not receive a nude picture of the victim, he would share the images he had previously received on the community site. As a result, the victim sent a nude photo at the demand of the accused during a video call, but the threats continued and the man wanted to meet the girl in person. The victim eventually did not send any more pictures of herself, interrupting the conversation with the accused.
He obtained nude shots from 18 girls
The accused forced a total of 18 young girls between the ages of 12 and 21 living in different parts of the country to send nude pictures of themselves, and then, in possession of the acquired images, forced or tried to persuade them to send additional pictures, threatening to if they do not, they will publish the previously acquired images on pornographic sites.
Judge Dr. Emri Kinga said in the reasoning of the verdict that in the case of crimes committed against minors, great emphasis should be placed on prevention. This is necessary because minors are traumatized for a long time, so the verdict is not a cure for them, it only helps the sense of justice in society. Prevention is primarily the responsibility of parents as well as school awareness programs. Children who do not live in a family should be cared for by the child protection system. The judge stressed that due to shame, the latency is high, many crimes remain hidden, and children do not know who to turn to for help. The verdict said that the internet is being used so irresponsibly, recklessly by young people that it drives them, among other things, to become victims.
The court assessed a large number of sets as an aggravating circumstances, as well as the fact that in the case of 14 regular coercions, 13 ordinary people were offended against a minor. At the same time, it is an attenuating circumstance that the man has a criminal record and some of the acts remained in the experimental phase.
The verdict is not final, the prosecutor’s office allowed three working days to file a statement of appeal, while the accused and his defense counsel filed an appeal primarily for acquittal and for relief. The case continues at the Debrecen General Court.
Court of Debrecen / debreceninap.hu
Picture: illusration.
