Mother jailed over pornographic images of her children

An Italian woman has been jailed for three years under child pornography laws for taking indecent photos of her children, aged just three and 18 months.

The 35-year-old woman, whose name is subject to a ban on publication in order to protect the children, had been reported to the police by child protection agency Appogg. 

In 2017, the mother and father had been arraigned separately in court, after being found in possession of over 70 photos and videos showing their children touching the father’s private parts, showering together with their parents and other nudity in a domestic setting.

Appogg had been alerted by the school which employed the woman as a child-care support worker for autistic children, after she had shown colleagues a number of nude photographs of her two young children together with her husband.

She had told police that she had taken the pictures to use them in her separation proceedings, because her estranged husband would refuse to wear clothes inside their house. The idea was to help him, she claimed, by showing them to a lawyer who would know what to do. She did not know of the existence of Appogg, she said, because she was a foreigner.

Regarding the nude pictures featuring just her children, she told the police that these were taken to be shown to their paediatrician to reassure her that the children were physically well.

The photos were not taken to be used for pornographic or indecent purposes, she insisted.

But from the witness stand, the paediatrician testified that she had shown him the photo album “because she was going through a separation.”

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli, in her judgment on the matter, made reference to case law on defilment of minors in order to establish whether the woman’s actions were “lewd acts” at law.

The taking of photographs in and of itself, said the court, was not a lewd act. The woman’s actions did not fall within the definition of corruption of minors as the elements necessary for the crime did not all exist.

The photographs of the children bathing and asleep in the nude were not pornographic, said the court. However, the photographs showing the children touching their father’s genitals were to be classified as child pornography.

The court observed that many of the photographs were taken well before the separation proceedings were started, even before the birth of their second child. The accused’s explanation that she wanted to hold on to the photos for future use was not a legitimate reason that would exonerate her for taking them, printing them out, taking them to school and showing them to her colleagues, said the magistrate.

Her attempt to excuse her actions by saying that she wanted to seek her colleague’s advice on her marital separation also fell flat, with the court saying it was not credible.

The woman was cleared of defiling the children, but found guilty of producing child pornography.

In its considerations on sentencing, the court also noted that the woman had changed her address whilst on bail and had not informed the police.

The court sentenced the mother to imprisonment for three years and permanently banned her from professional activities which involve regular, direct contact with young children. Her name was also entered into the sex offenders register.

Lawyer Alfred Abela was defence counsel to the woman.

Inspector Joseph Busuttil prosecuted.