In 2016 to 2017, the accused had apparently been in possession of roughly 160 indecent photos depicting mostly young girls, aged 6 to 14.
According to the investigating officer, this relatively small number of images is likely due to a panic-induced deletion spree on behalf of the accused, who admitted that he had "deleted things in a panic".
The police officer stated that he is convinced that the computer originally contained considerably greater quantities of illegal material. When the president of the court commented that the deletion was a deliberate act, the investigating officer stated that the accused had indeed deleted child pornographic material, but not sport sites for example. The man had probably accessed such sites quite regularly and probably also deleted video material, of none was found.
Following information from Europol, child pornographic material featuring an 8 to 10 year old girl had been uploaded using a Luxembourgish IP address. Said incident apparently led to a police search at the parental home of the man. As the father was in hospital at the time of the upload, the son became the focus of the investigation. Even though he did not initially admit his actions, he asked for clarification on the sentences such acts would carry.
At the hearing, the man first talked of coincidence, before making a confession. He explained that had looked at such photos in stressful situations, which the police officer deemed "incomprehensible". The accused claims that he understands that his actions were not right. Following the judge's question about why somebody would look up such things, he said that he didn't know why. The accused also said that he cannot put a number on how many images he deleted, but claims it was not many.
Mr Modert, the defendant's lawyer, pleaded for a discontinuance of judgement, meaning that there would be a record of the man's mistakes, but no sanctions. Prosecution asked for a prison sentence of 18 months on probation, with additional follow-ups, as well as a fine.
The verdict is scheduled for 23 January.
