Camposol resident sentenced to two and a half years in prison

Belgian national sentenced to 30 months in prison for possessing and distributing paedophile material

The sentence could be suspended if a forensic doctor confirms that the defendant suffers from a serious illness

As reported in the Spanish regional press, the Provincial Court of Murcia sentenced a Belgian citizen, named as Andrew, to two and a half years in prison for the crime of corruption of minors after paedophile material was seized at his home that he downloaded onto his computer and distributed, including sexual videos of girls under 11 years of age. The defendant, 72 years old and a resident of the Camposol urbanisation in Mazarrón, would have faced up to eight and a half years in prison, but after an agreement with the prosecution pleaded guilty to charges filed by the Prosecutor's Office resulting in a reduced sentence of two and a half years, as passed down by the Court on April 10.

However, the conviction could become a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence due to a serious pathology allegedly suffered by the defendant. Lawyer Óscar Conesa, who acted as Andrew's defence, obtained an agreement with the court which could substantially reduce the sentence.

He said, "We are waiting for a medical evaluation by a forensic expert to confirm the illness from which my client suffers."

If the evaluation does not confirm the illness, the sentence will stand and, after serving his two and a half years in prison, the convicted man will be expelled from Spain. He will also be prohibited from any activity involving minors for 10 years.

The arrest took place in April 2021 following an investigation by the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil who enlisted the help of foreign police forces. They alerted officers in other countries through Europol that an Internet user had accessed a web portal to acquire and distribute child pornography material. The investigations revealed that the defendant had allegedly connected to this portal on several occasions throughout 2015 and 2016, downloading photos and videos in which minors under 11 years of age appeared being abused, according to the prosecutor in his opening statement.

Officers from the Guardia Civil searched the defendant's home in Camposol, seizing several hard drives and computers. From the analysis of these computers it was established that illegal images had been downloaded and distributed to unidentified third parties, through the instant messaging application Yahoo! Instant Messaging provided third parties with links to internet pages containing files of underage girls with paedophile content.

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