UAE man gets 6 months in jail for child pornography

A man who was caught with hundreds of child pornographic films on his computer devices, and was also distributing the illegal material to small children, has been given six months in jail.

Abu Dhabi Appeal Court has upheld an earlier ruling by the Criminal Court of First Instance that handed down the sentence to the man from Philippines after he was found guilty of possessing child pornography and distributing it among children.

The court has also fined him Dh50,000.

Official court documents stated that the man in his 30s had downloaded the indecent and illegal content from pornography websites.

After downloading the porn films using proxy software, the man allegedly sent them out to mobile phones of children aged aged below 11 and to some adults.

Public prosecutors said police caught the man after investigations suggested that he was promoting pornography among kids.

Police inspected his home and discovered his personal computer devices had child pornographic materials.

About 200 pornographic films were found in the man's phones and computer, and he had sent it to many phone numbers that belonged to small children, according to police investigations.

Prosecutors charged the Filipino with downloading and possessing child pornographic materials and promoting the illegal stuff among children, which violates the law.

The man had admitted to possessing child pornographic materials but denied sharing any of the porn footage.

He will be deported after serving his jail sentence.

Authorities have warned internet users that foreign websites are monitored by international cyber authorities and that accessing them to download illegal stuff like pornographic material is punishable by law.

The UAE's cybercrime law states that anyone who intentionally possesses pornographic material involving juveniles using a website or web system, or any IT method, faces a fine from Dh150,000 up to Dh1 million or a jail sentence from a minimum of six months to three years or both.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com