The Provincial Court of Alicante has sentenced a man to 72 years and six months in prison for storing, distributing and producing paedophile videos involving minors.
The court found the defendant guilty of 10 counts of corruption of minors, five counts of sexual assault and nine counts of exhibitionism. In addition to the prison sentence, he faces 10 years of supervised release. However, the judicial ruling caps the maximum time he will actually serve behind bars at 20 years.
The events took place between February and April 2021. The ruling explains that an investigation by the National Police identified the accused through his exchange of child abuse material using a P2P computer programme.
Following a judicial warrant, searches were carried out on 18th January 2022 at the defendant’s home and workplace, both located in Alicante. Authorities discovered nearly 2,000 pornographic audiovisual files featuring children under the age of 16, and in some instances, under 10 years old. The investigation established that the accused had downloaded and distributed this material to third parties.
According to the court, the defendant knowingly stored the material and was fully aware that he was exchanging it with others. The evidence also proved that he instructed minors to perform specific sexual acts, taking and storing screenshots of these encounters.
However, the Alicante court determined that some of the sexual assault charges, relating to instructions given to minors in front of a camera, were not fully proven and consequently reduced them to exhibitionism offences.
The sentence can be appealed before the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community within 10 days of notification.
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