Kidflix investigation: Suspended jail term for man who uploaded child porn
The accused had filed an admission upon arraignment
A 26-year-old man was handed a two-year prison sentence suspended for four years on Tuesday after pleading guilty to acquiring and uploading pornographic material featuring minors and being in possession of child pornography.
The Pembroke resident, whose name cannot be published by court order, had pleaded guilty to the charges during his arraignment on April 9.
He was the second Maltese national to be arraigned following a cross-border Europol crackdown of child sex abuse.
During his arraignment, police inspector Wayne Buhagiar told the court that some months previously the German police started investigating Kidflix, a website featuring child pornography. Among the users accessing the website, they found the suspect, who had made payments using cryptocurrency to buy child pornography and even uploaded it.
Kidflix, which has since been closed, was one of the world’s largest paedophilia sites, where 1.8 million logged on per month. It had 72,000 videos.
Police in various countries made 79 arrests, including the two arrests made by the Malta police following information received from Europol.
The court in its considerations on punishment, said while an effective prison term would be suitable, there were good and valid reasons for it to hand down a suspended sentence.
The accused was sentenced to a two-year prison term suspended for four years.
He was placed under a supervision order and a treatment order for four years and three years respectively. His name is to be included in the sex offenders register.
Magistrate Nadine Sant Lia presided.
Police inspectors Wayne Buhagiar and Carl Pace prosecuted.
Lawyer Veronica-Anne Spiteri appeared for the accused.