Trial in Feldkirch

Child porn hoarded

The accused confessed in court. He must now undergo therapy as ordered.(Bild: Chantall Dorn, Krone KREATIV)

For ten years, the addiction of a man from Lower Austria remained undiscovered, then it all came to light. On Thursday, the 51-year-old man was sentenced at Feldkirch Regional Court.

Judge Silke Sandholzer sentenced the accused to four months' probation and an unconditional fine of 4,500 euros for pornographic depiction of minors. A bargain sentence for the man from the Bregenz area, especially as an increased sentence of up to five years in prison has been in force since December - previously the maximum sentence was three years.

You really were very lucky to have been sentenced under the old legal situation.

Richterin Silke Sandholzer zum Angeklagten

However, the aggravation does not yet affect the Unterländer. This is because the previously blameless man committed the crimes between 2013 and the summer of last year. According to the public prosecutor's accusation, the man downloaded and saved 1651 photos and 54 videos. He also forwarded some of the relevant material to other paedophiles. The public prosecutor's office assumes that 250 photos and 30 videos were involved.

The accused does not deny the acts
"I was on chat forums to get pornographic material," admits the 51-year-old. He also admits to having forwarded some content to third parties. "But I also deleted a lot of the pictures because they were too violent for me," the defendant says morally. He makes no secret of the fact that he is attracted to girls between the ages of eight and thirteen! Although he had already undergone therapy for his attraction, he had broken it off. He no longer knows why.

Judge Silke Sandholzer sentenced the man from Unterland to four months' probation and a fine.(Bild: Chantall Dorn)

However, the accused recognizes that there is an urgent need for action in this direction. Which is why, in addition to conditional imprisonment and a fine of 4,500 euros, the Ms. Council ordered him to undergo regular psychotherapy, with quarterly reports to the court. To ensure that the project succeeds, the paedophile is assigned a probation officer. Three laptops, four USB sticks and the smartphone on which the man had stored the disgusting material were confiscated.