Child pornography trial involving thousands of images and videos: Defendant denies paedophile tendencies

A 47-year-old man from the southern district of Ebersberg is on trial after a shocking amount of child and youth pornography files were found on him. Despite the serious allegations, the defendant denies having any paedophile tendencies. He has undergone therapeutic treatment to investigate the causes of his behavior.

District – Almost two years ago, the criminal police found more than 9,000 child and youth pornographic images and well over 2,000 relevant videos during a search of a house in the southern district. The officers seized 70 gigabytes of files with a total playing time of more than 100 hours. Now the owner of the “collection”, now 47 years old, had to answer to the Ebersberg lay judges’ court.

Torture and abuse videos of children of all ages

Since spring 2019, the man, who works in a medical profession, is said to have been watching child and youth porn on the darknet and downloading it to his computer. According to the indictment, he then “sorted and structured” the files in numerous folders according to the respective genre, as the prosecutor puts it. The police would later find thousands of abuse videos and images under titles such as “Nice Boys,” “Siblings,” or “Happy Fam.” The range of files extends from sexual assaults on young people to children and infants – from nude images to torture videos. “This is the worst material,” a detective who was called as a witness later reported. Even for him, as an experienced investigator, the content of the porn was “disturbing.” “These are the worst files I have ever seen,” he says.

In court, however, the defendant was cautious. He had his defense attorney explain: “The facts are fully admitted. He regrets what he did very much.” The defendant has now already started receiving therapeutic treatment. “The psychiatrist should find out what went wrong,” the defense attorney stressed. Until then, the defendant would not be able to explain his behavior. In any case, he does not have a sexual attraction to children, the attorney stressed. The 47-year-old sees the vast amounts of pornographic material on his computer as more of an art “collection” that has been built up over decades.

These are the worst files I have seen so far.

“You collect bottle caps, but not child pornography,” replied Judge Frank Gellhaus, shaking his head. “This is the wrong place for masks and for maintaining a facade.” “They’ve done that long enough,” he warned the man, who was finally ready to play his cards close to his chest. But he continued to deny having a paedophile tendency. “I’m disgusted with myself,” he asserted.

The accused must undergo therapy

He has not always had an easy life. As a child, he was physically abused by his stepfather, and due to an illness he was also infertile. The latter often led to conflicts in his marriage. “We were always arguing. “My wife really wanted children,” explains the man with his head bowed. At some point he looked for a way out on the darknet. “I wanted to suppress my past life,” says the accused Verlegen. “Why didn’t you get professional help sooner?” Judge Frank Gellhaus will ask the man. The answer was with a brief shrug of the shoulders: “In my mind I played it down.”

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“The information does not match the consumption behavior.” “For me, pedophilia is definitely present,” the prosecutor then emphasizes in his plea. He is calling for a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 6,000 euros. The defendant should also go to therapy. “Too high,” says the defense attorney. He believes that a suspended sentence of one year and three months is sufficient. The jury ultimately followed the prosecution counsel in its verdict. “That is the extreme limit [vor der Haft, Anm. d. Redaktion] “along which you walked today,” warns Judge Frank Gellhaus. The verdict is final.