The more you pull the thread of the Nadia case, the solidarity scam that Spain is talking about, we discover more and more creepy details. The latest news is that the police have found in one of the father's pendrive "sexual" images starring the eleven-year-old girl, in which she sees evidence of the crime of child pornography and sexual exploitation.
That a child appears naked in a photo or in a video is not a crime (parents often take photos of their children without clothes, bathing or naked on the beach), while there are images of children who are not yet naked could be considered pornographic, according to the acts you perform. We must be very cautious with matters involving minors and sexual crimes, therefore it is a good opportunity to clarify what is sexual and what is not in the photo of a minor, according to the legislation in Spain and in Europe.
What is child pornography?
According to a Directive approved in October 2011 by the European Parliament, child pornography is defined as:
Any material that visually represents a minor participating in a sexually explicit behavior real or simulated
All representation of the sexual organs of a minor for primarily sexual purposes
Any material that visually represents a person who appears to be a minor participating in a real or simulated sexually explicit conduct or any representation of the sexual organs of a person who appears to be a minor, for primarily sexual purposes
Realistic images of a minor participating in sexually explicit conduct or realistic images of the sexual organs of a minor, mainly for sexual purposes.
In Spain
Article 189 of the Criminal Code specifies the penalty that will be applied to those involved in crimes of child pornography:
1) Will be punished with the prison sentence of one to five years:
a) The one who I will capture or use minors or persons with disabilities in need of special protection for purposes or in exhibition or pornographic shows, both public and private, or to develop any kind of pornographic material, whatever its support, or finance any of these activities or profit from them.
- b) The one who produce, sell, distribute, exhibit, offer or facilitate the production, sale, diffusion or exhibition by any means of child pornography or in whose preparation people with disabilities in need of special protection have been used, or possess it for these purposes, even if the material had its origin abroad or was unknown.
2) They will be punished with the prison term of five to nine years those who perform the acts provided for in section 1 of this article when any of the following circumstances concur:
- to) When used to children under sixteen.
- b) When the facts have a particularly degrading or vexatious character.
- C) When the pornographic material represents minors or persons with disabilities in need of special protection who are victims of physical or sexual violence.
- d) When the guilty party has endangered the victim's life or health in a malicious manner or due to serious imprudence.
- and) When pornographic material was of notorious importance.
- F) When the culprit belongs to an organization or association, even of a transitory nature, which is dedicated to the performance of such activities.
- g) When the person in charge is an ascendant, guardian, curator, guardian, teacher or any other person in charge, in fact, even if provisionally, or by law, of the minor or disabled person in need of special protection, or in the case of any other member of his family living with him or another person who has acted abusing his recognized position of trust or authority.
- h) When the aggravating recidivism concurs.
3) If the facts referred to in letter a) of the first paragraph of paragraph 1 had been committed with violence or intimidation, the penalty shall be imposed higher in degree to those provided in the preceding paragraphs.
4) Anyone who knowingly attends exhibitionist or pornographic shows involving minors or persons with disabilities in need of special protection will be punished with a penalty of six months to two years in prison.
5) The one who acquires or possesses child pornography for his own use or in whose preparation people with disabilities in need of special protection would have been used, will be punished with a penalty of three months to one year in prison or a fine of six months to two years.
The same penalty will be imposed on those who knowingly access child pornography or whose development would have used people with disabilities in need of special protection, through information and communication technologies.
6) The one who has under his power, guardianship, guardianship or foster care for a minor or a person with a disability in need of special protection and who, with knowledge of his or her prostitution or corruption status, does not do what is possible to prevent its continuation in such state, or does not go to the competent authority for the same purpose if it lacks means for the custody of the child or person with a disability in need of special protection, will be punished with a prison sentence of three to six months or a fine of six to twelve months
7) The Public Prosecutor will promote the pertinent actions in order to deprive the person who commits any of the behaviors described in the previous section of the parental rights, guardianship, guardianship or foster care.
8) The judges and courts shall order the adoption of the necessary measures for the withdrawal of web pages or internet applications that contain or disseminate child pornography or in whose preparation persons with disabilities in need of special protection or, where appropriate, have been used to block access to them to Internet users who are in Spanish territory.
What is NOT child pornography?
As parents, there are many situations in which we share moments with our naked children. From showering or bathing with them, to taking a nice picture of our naked baby or a picture of a part of his body to observe the evolution of some disease. Nudity is not something negative and, of course, and such images they are not considered abuse for the mere fact that children are without clothes.
Another issue is to share the photos on social networks, in which they already transfer the private sphere to be part of a sea of images of which we have no control. Such photographs could be misused by other people or even in some in countries like France, your child could report you for the photos you published of him when he was a baby if he considers them offensive.
Networks also expose you to the opinions of others. Some time ago we told you the absurd situation to which a comic was exposed who wanted to share with his followers a moment that he considered tender, bathing with his two-year-old daughter, and that ended up being criticized for it, accused of pedophile.
Another thing is that third parties share photographs of your naked children, for more good intention they have in it, such as when a teacher photographed her naked students and posted the photos on social networks, supposedly for an artistic purpose.
It is no crime take pictures of our naked children in tender situations that we would like to preserve (as long as they do not represent explicit sexual behavior, as we mentioned above). But of course, we must be very careful when hanging on networks or sharing the photos of our naked children.
