In Lviv, an indictment has been submitted to court against a 49-year-old Lviv resident accused of the sexual exploitation of underage and minor girls, the distribution of child pornography, as well as an attempt to bribe a police official. This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine and the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, the man used a messenger app to establish contact with five girls aged 9–15 on the Internet. During their communication, he discussed sexual topics with them and committed lewd acts of a sexual nature against them.
The accused instructed the girls to take pornographic photographs and videos, in particular to film themselves naked and send these files to him. He stored the photographs and videos he received and distributed child pornography by sending the material to other users via messenger apps. Law enforcement officers note that the man was aware that, due to their age, the children could not properly understand the nature and criminal character of these actions.
During the pre-trial investigation, the suspect offered an official of the Migration Police Department in Lviv Region an unlawful benefit of four US dollars in order to influence the investigator, to avoid being brought to criminal liability and to obstruct the conduct of procedural actions, or to have them carried out in such a way that the prosecution would be unable to obtain evidence of his activities.
The pre-trial investigation was conducted by officers of the Migration Police Department in Lviv Region together with investigators of Lviv District Police Department No. 1 and officers of the Lviv Directorate of the Internal Security Department of the National Police of Ukraine, under the procedural supervision of the Halytskyi District Prosecutor’s Office.
Criminal proceedings were initiated under Part 3 of Article 149 (human trafficking), Part 2 of Article 156 (corruption of minors), Parts 1, 3 and 4 of Article 301-1 (obtaining access to child pornography, its acquisition, storage, import, transportation or other movement, production, sale and distribution), Part 3 of Article 369 (offer, promise or provision of an unlawful benefit to an official) and Part 1 of Article 369-2 (abuse of influence) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The indictment has been submitted to the court.
The maximum penalty the accused faces if found guilty by the court is up to 15 years’ imprisonment with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to three years.