A 24-year-old who was accused in 2020 by his girlfriend, who was underage at the time, of having videotaped their private moments and posted this material on a pornographic website, has been released from prison by a decision of the Three-member Misdemeanor Appeal Court of Thessaloniki.

The appellate court acquitted the 24-year-old (today) of the acts of pornography of a minor through information systems and violation of personal data, as it accepted that the accused is not the one depicted in the video material. The “key” in this development seems to have been an expert opinion carried out by the young man’s technical consultant – medical examiner.

Analyzing the frames of the videos in question, in which – however – no faces can be seen, the medical examiner highlighted in his conclusive report differences in characteristics of the depicted bodies, mainly in that of the accused, and in particular in his sensitive area. More specifically, it found that the man appearing in the material had been subjected to circumcisionwhich is not the case in the case of the 24-year-old and in this direction his defense presented a medical certificate from a relevant examination.

Prosecutor: “Medical event”

“It is a medical event,” said the head prosecutor, commenting on the expert opinion, and added that “he is not the defendant” who appears in the video footage. Consequently, he pleaded not guilty to the charges of pornography and personal data, but not for the performance of sexual acts with a minor over 14 years old (on a continuance), in the degree of a misdemeanor.

Adopting the prosecutor’s proposal, the judges he was sentenced to 3 years in prison, suspended for 3 years, crediting him with the palliative of post-adolescence. At first instance, the 24-year-old was sentenced by the Three-member Misdemeanor Court of Katerini to a total prison sentence of 8 years, which was decided to have no deterrent effect, with the consequence that he was sent to prison, where he remained since last February.

In his apology, he insisted on his innocence regarding the pornographic material, stressing that he had nothing to do with it. “I would never do that, it’s embarrassing for a woman.” He also stated that he met the complainant in a bar in Katerini, in the summer of 2017, when he was 18 years old, and they maintained a relationship until 2020, when the complaint was made. When asked about her minor age at the time, the accused apologized that “It gave me the impression that it’s much bigger.” As he mentioned, they maintained a long-distance relationship as the girl lives permanently in Cyprus.

“I recognize myself”

Earlier, the complainant, now 21 years old, repeating her complaint, appeared certain that the depicted person is herself. “I recognize his house and myself. I know it’s me. I would never allow that. I guess he recorded me with his cell phone. The material was “uploaded” to the Internet without my knowledge and consent. This for me is a shame” she testified and added that she had no other reason to denounce him once and they maintained a relationship from a distance and the sexual acts were done with her consent. She stated that this material came to her knowledge when a friend notified her and since then she has cut off all communication with the accused.