What is the penalty for distributing child pornography?

In the Russian Federation, activities related to pornography, its production and distribution are officially prohibited. However, the network is replete with thematic sites, public pages with relevant services, and portals for ordering paid services. All this is a criminal offense, and if we talk about the use of minors in such cases, then the situation for the criminal only gets worse.

Thus, for the production, distribution and storage of pornography involving children, criminal liability is provided under Articles 242.1 and 242.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, responsibility comes for any involvement of a child in such an activity, and the type of pornography does not matter - severe punishment will follow in any case.

If you're guilty!

Article 242. Illegal production and circulation of pornographic materials or objects

(as amended by Federal Law No. 14-FZ dated February 29, 2012)

1. Illegal production and (or) movement across the State Border of the Russian Federation for the purpose of distribution, public demonstration or advertising, or distribution, public demonstration or advertising of pornographic materials or objects -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to two years, or by forced labor for a term of up to two years, or by imprisonment for the same term.

2. Distribution, public display or advertising of pornographic materials or objects among minors, or involvement of a minor in the circulation of pornographic products, committed by a person who has reached the age of eighteen, -

shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of two to five years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to ten years.

3. Acts provided for in parts one or two of this article, committed:

a) by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organized group;

b) using the media, including information and telecommunication networks (including the Internet);

c) with the extraction of income on a large scale, -

shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of two to six years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to fifteen years.

Note. Large-scale income in this article, as well as in Article 242.1 of this Code, is income in an amount exceeding fifty thousand rubles.

What is meant by such materials?

Definitions of pornography are numerous, but they all imply a demonstration of sexual intercourse in the most explicit form, focusing on the display of genitals and the process of intercourse, which involves the interpenetration of the reproductive organs of opposite-sex or same-sex sexual partners. The cynical nature of scenes of intercourse, demonstrating only the sensual side of the relationship between opposite- and same-sex partners during intimacy, forms among viewers of such products a cynical attitude towards the sphere of personal contacts of people, reducing them to the satisfaction of a base animal instinct, depriving them of spirituality and forming an opinion about widespread depravity.

Demonstrative display of genitals, even without direct contact, if this is done not for the purpose of promoting the beauty of the human body, but as a visual aid to sexuality and to arouse base feelings, should be classified as pornography. There is no unambiguous definition that would structure the content of various products and allow one or a work of human activity to be classified as pornography. When considering cases related to pornographic products, in each specific case a conclusion of art criticism is required, which allows classifying the classified materials as cultural property or propaganda of animal instincts and immoral behavior.

It is the awakening of the animal component in a person, which ultimately leads to personality regression and degradation of the human race, leaving an imprint on general concepts and dogmas of morality, that makes pornography an unacceptable phenomenon, causing a negative attitude from society and widespread condemnation of such products.

A specialist will talk about why pornography is dangerous for humans in the following video:

You need to understand what a p2p network is and how it works.

p2p is an overlay computer network based on equal rights of participants. Often in such a network there are no dedicated servers, and each node (peer) is both a client and performs server functions. Unlike the client-server architecture, this organization allows the network to remain operational with any number and any combination of available nodes. The network participants are peers (source Wikipedia).

At the same time, there are both “pure” p2p networks and “hybrid” ones.

“Pure” p2p networks include the Direct Connect protocol. To download to a DC network, you install a special client that connects to one or more DC hubs. In this P2P network, the hub acts as a server. By connecting to it, you can see a list of connected users, and search for “shared” (opened by the user) files and download them. In addition, DC hubs usually have a general chat and the ability to exchange instant personal messages, so the DC client can be used not only for exchanging files, but also for communicating with other P2P network users.

The most popular DC clients are various descendants of the DC++ client, in particular, StrongDC++, ApexDC++, FlylinkDC++, GreyLink, EiskaltDC++, etc.

“Hybrid” networks operate via the BitTorrent protocol. In this case, downloaded files are transferred in parts. By downloading a file using a special program (torrent client), the user at the same time gives it to other clients on the principle “you give me - I give you.” To coordinate file sharing, there is a specialized server - a torrent tracker. It is needed so that peers (network participants) can find each other. Typically, the tracker stores hashes (file IDs), IP addresses and incoming ports of clients. But often a torrent tracker is also a site with information about distributed files (descriptions, metadata, etc.) and the number of peers, download statistics.

The most popular torrent clients are the official client BitTorrent, uTorrent, BitComet, KTorrent, Deluge, Transmission, Vuze (Azureus), etc. (source https://strana-sovetov.com/computers/internet/5386-p2p-networks. html).

Why do I dwell in such detail on the definition and principle of operation of a network? The fact is that it is “clean” networks that are of interest to operational services.

In simple Russian language, the DC protocol allows any network user to look at the files of interest to him in a folder open for downloading by another user, select and download the files of interest. At the same time, the BitTorrent protocol does not allow “rummaging” in an open folder, suggesting the downloading of only a specific file located on the server, which makes it difficult for operational employees to identify the information they are interested in.

It is important to know the features of these programs when studying the results of a computer technical examination. What file-sharing clients will the expert identify on the device being examined? Was it possible, using the method reflected in the ORM protocol, with programs installed on the computer, to distribute files on a file-sharing network?

Perhaps knowledge of these “little things” will help you when choosing a defense position, calling into question the method of committing the crime accused by the prosecution.

Actions to take when arrested on pornography charges

As a rule, people who post pornographic information on the Internet do not even think about the consequences of this action.

You should always be prepared for the fact that you may bear severe responsibility for violating rules and laws.

In case of violation, you can lose a lot - your personal life, work, and most importantly - freedom. The maximum term of imprisonment provided for by law is 6 years. Think about it, do you need this? Try to study the necessary information in advance and act only within the law.

Actions when accused of distributing pornography

You must be clear about the difference between distributing child and adult pornography. Distribution and production of child pornography are criminal offenses almost everywhere in the world.

By the way, there are places on our planet where the distribution of pornographic products is completely legal; among such countries we can note Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Any material is considered to be pornographic if it arouses lust, strong sexual desire, shows people’s sexual desire in a cynical form, and also has no scientific or artistic value.

If the material is not obvious and unambiguous to the average person, then an examination will be ordered. In any situation, the division between “obscene” and “decent” will be determined by the culture and laws of the country where the case is being heard.

Pornography is classified as taboo under various international agreements. Russia can be called a country where there are relatively mild penalties for distributing pornography, when compared with penalties in some Muslim and other countries.

In a number of countries, a person accused of this crime is sentenced to death.

Commentary to Art. 242.1 of the Criminal Code

1. The subject of the crime is defined in the note to the article; a necessary condition is the depiction of minors (persons under the age of 18) in pornographic materials and objects. The number of items specified in the article and the number of minors involved do not affect the qualification of the crime.

2. The objective side is expressed in the commission of one of the alternative actions listed in the law in relation to objects and materials with pornographic images of minors. Actions of production, acquisition, storage, movement across the border must be carried out for the special purpose of distribution, public display or advertising.

3. Special subject: a person who has reached the age of 18 years.

ORM as a basis for initiating a criminal case.

As a rule, operational activities carried out to record the fact of the distribution of pornographic material on the Internet are formalized as operational activities “collection of samples for comparative research” or operational activities “observation”.

Collection of samples for comparative study. To determine the validity of this ORM, it is necessary to compare it with its procedural analogue - obtaining samples for comparative research (Article 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). The latter is carried out on the basis of the investigator’s decision, with the drawing up of a procedural protocol. The person from whom the samples are taken participates in this action and has the right to certify its results with his signature in the protocol. Similar legal guarantees are not provided for the collection of samples, such as ORM. Consequently, samples obtained as a result of operational investigation cannot be included in a criminal case as material evidence and cannot become the object of research within the framework of a forensic examination. Such samples are intended for carrying out another operational investigation - the study of objects and documents (Article 6 of the Federal Law “On Operational Investigation”).

Observation. The results of observation are recorded in certificates of operational employees, as well as using technical means. If technical means of recording were used, by decision of the head of the operational unit, such material obtained during the operational investigation (video and photographic recordings) is declassified and sent to the investigator for inclusion in the criminal case as material evidence. In the framework of an already initiated criminal case, the investigator can also interrogate the operational officer who carried out the surveillance as a witness.

Unfortunately, the lack of clear legislative criteria for distinguishing between these types of operational activities allows operational investigative units, if necessary, to “replace” one event with another. This happens with the connivance of the prosecutor and the court, who consider it an insignificant violation that the ORM formalized as “collection of samples for comparative research” has the goal not of researching and comparing samples, but of simply obtaining observation results. However, it is necessary to know about this and, when interrogating operational officers, find out what exactly they carried out and for what purpose, calling into question the legality of the results of the operational investigation that do not correspond to the goal set for the operational service officer.

When assessing the results of ORM, you need to pay attention to the following.

a) Location of the operational investigation.

Since the crime is committed using the global Internet, carrying out the specified operational investigations is possible in any region, and one should not be surprised that signs of a crime can be identified in a completely different region, different from the one in which the defendant lives. But the location of the device from which prohibited material is distributed will be the place where the crime was committed. And it is at the place where the crime was committed that the preliminary investigation will be carried out in the future.

b) There is no need to obtain a court decision or resolution approved by the head of the body carrying out operational investigative activities.

In accordance with Article 8 of the Law “On Operational-Investigative Activities”, browsing the Internet and receiving pornographic material from the suspect’s storage (hard drive) is not a restriction of the constitutional rights of citizens to the privacy of personal life, correspondence or other messages, since the principle the action of the p2p network is that the citizen independently opens access to files for public access, thereby, in fact, recognizing that these files do not constitute personal secrets, but are intended for a wide range of information.

c) Providing the results of the operational investigation to the investigator and the court.

In accordance with Article 89 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the results of operational investigations can be used as evidence in a criminal case only if they are provided by the operational body in the manner prescribed by law. This procedure is provided for by the instruction “On the procedure for presenting the results of operational investigative activities to the body of inquiry, the investigator or the court” (approved by the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the FSB of the Russian Federation, the FSO of the Russian Federation, the Federal Customs Service, the SVR of the Russian Federation, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for drug control, RF IC dated September 27, 2013 N 776/703/509/507/1820/42/535/398/68).

I will not dwell on the procedure for submission - it is prescribed in the instructions, but I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the material received by the investigator from the operational body (if it is used as evidence) must be examined and attached to the criminal case in accordance with Articles 81, 177, 180 of the Code of Criminal Procedure RF.

How to protect your loved ones?

Viewing pornography in some European countries is considered a component of sexual freedom and is not prohibited, being an element of sexual education and training, preparing adolescents for adulthood. This approach is controversial, but it is very difficult to protect adolescents from pornography.

Crimes of a sexual nature (such as violence, organizing prostitution, etc.) are now becoming more common. But it’s in our hands to change everything for the better!

Recently, more and more people are faced with a special type of telephone fraud, when a notification is received on the device that it is blocked due to viewing pornographic materials. For information on how to overcome this problem, see the following video: