Germany has approved a plan to reduce the minimum sentence for spreading child sexual abuse images, a rule introduced less than three years ago that officials now say has proven too inflexible in practice. The decision comes in response to significant legal and practical challenges faced by investigators, courts, and state justice ministers.

In July 2021, Germany increased the punishment for distributing child pornography, setting a prison sentence of between one and ten years. Previously, those convicted faced imprisonment of between three months and five years. The intent was to strengthen the legal framework against child pornography. However, the rigid minimum sentence of one year has led to unintended problems.

The minimum one-year sentence means the automatic classification of the offense as a felony, requiring mandatory prosecution. This has affected individuals such as parents and teachers who might forward such material to authorities unintentionally. For example, people who received child sexual abuse material (CSAM) involuntarily, like parents in WhatsApp groups or teachers discovering material on students’ phones, faced a minimum one-year prison sentence for merely reporting the content.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann highlighted the practical issues during a statement on Wednesday, February 7, 2024.

“The upper limit of ten years will remain, but the new minimum sentence has resulted in numerous problems in practice,” he said. “In particular, people who receive such material involuntarily risk a minimum sentence of one year. The same applies to teachers who have discovered child pornographic material on students’ cellphones and forwarded it to alert the affected parents.”

The German Federal Cabinet has thus voted to reduce the minimum sentence from one year to six months. This adjustment aims to provide prosecutors and courts with greater flexibility to address each case proportionately. The new legislation will allow authorities to classify offenses as misdemeanors rather than felonies, restoring their ability to close cases at the lower end of punishability.

Buschmann explained that the change is necessary to address the large proportion of young offenders who often act out of “inexperience, curiosity, thirst for adventure or striving to impress” rather than out of sexual motives. The reform will enable the legal system to react more flexibly and proportionately to individual cases.

Under current German law, offenses carrying a sentence of a year or more are counted as felonies, while those under that limit are considered misdemeanors. The planned reduction to a six-month minimum sentence is expected to help alleviate the rigid constraints imposed by the previous law, allowing for a more nuanced approach to each case.

The 2021 law was intended to curb the spread of child pornography by imposing stricter penalties. However, it inadvertently punished those who reported or inadvertently received such material, leading to calls for reform from various legal and justice sectors.

As the new legislation progresses through the parliamentary process, it aims to balance the need for stringent measures against child pornography with the practical realities faced by individuals who encounter such material inadvertently.

This legislative adjustment underscores Germany’s commitment to protecting children while ensuring that legal responses are fair and proportional.