German Bundestag considers the law changing the minimum sentences for possession, purchase and distribution of child pornography will make the penalties better fit the offences.
Prior to this, possession of child pornography was punishable by a minimum of one year in prison. The government in Germany introduced a bill according to which “possession and acquisition of child pornographic content should in future be punishable with a minimum penalty of three months’ imprisonment, and distribution with a minimum penalty of six months‘ imprisonment.”
German officials and legal experts explained that the new law aims to make sanctions better tailored to crimes by distinguishing between different levels of offences in order to allocate legal resources and attention to the most serious cases.
The Bundestag explained: “Such cases occur particularly frequently among parents and teachers of older children or adolescents who have discovered child pornography in their possession and passed it on to other parents, teachers or school management.”
The federal government views the classification of crimes as misdemeanours as an effective way to deal appropriately and flexibly with many juvenile offenders:
The people involved generally do not act with the aim of being sexually aroused by the child pornography content, but rather based on an impulse typical of the adolescent developmental stage, such as naivety, curiosity, a thirst for adventure or a desire to impress, the rationale states.
The more serious offences carry a minimum penalty of one year’s imprisonment, while misdemeanours may carry lighter penalties and may include fines or shorter prison sentences. In Germany, the conversion of an offence to a misdemeanour does not mean decriminalisation. Decriminalisation means that the act is no longer considered unlawful and generally does not carry any legal sanctions.
However, when an offence is reclassified as a misdemeanour, the conduct remains illegal and punishable, but the justice system may apply a more proportionate response to less serious cases. In Germany, the possession of child pornography remains an illegal act with serious legal consequences, despite the reduction of minimum penalties.
