Man Sentenced to Community Service for Sharing Child Porn

Oliver R., sentenced only to 60 hours of community labor, distributed 2,558 pictures and 132 videos of child abuse on a darknet forum. His defense? He had “felt the urgent need for contact.” The so-called ”pedophile ring” on the darknet had accepted him, he told a Munich court on September 21.

According to the news agencies that covered the story, the content viewed by the 21-year-old shocked “even experienced investigators.” He told the court that, at the time (and presumably as he spoke), that he had no friends on the internet or in real life. “They accepted me,” he said, referring to the pedophile ring that he had joined. He had offered his younger brother to the forum members “for abuse.”

Oliver R. spoke like a child in court, a witness reported. And his mental state reflected the way he presented himself to the world, the defense explained. More than one psychiatrist had diagnosed the young man with a developmental disorder. “After his mother’s death, he had to face massive personal problems,” his defense attorney, Claudia Enghofer, told the court. His life was not exciting enough to talk about elsewhere on the internet, she added. That was what the defendant ”believed,” at least.

“The material was devious,” the court prosecutor revealed the content accessed by the 21-year-old. “It was the hardest child pornography,” he said. The prosecutor explained that not only had the defendant shared or downloaded 2,558 illegal pictures and 132 videos, he had also “offered” his younger brother for the darknet forum members to “abuse.”

Oliver R. argued that, in order to fit in, he had to get the darknet community to accept him. Unless he distributed content, he claimed, they would have kicked him from the group. He “offered” his sibling based on the same principle, he said. And further explained that he would not have actually gone through with the act.

“I have not seen anything like that in 10 years,” one experienced investigator testified.

Facebook reported Oliver R. to the authorities after he had shared child abuse videos on Facebook. “It was all pretty stupid,” he said in reference to the Facebook account.

The judge in charge of the case condemned the man’s actions. But for reasons unknown, she sentenced him to only 60 hours of unpaid labor. “Your need for contact has [clouded your judgement],” she said. “On the Internet, you could have joined any other groups.”