Monaco Lawyer Acquitted in Child Pornography Comics Case Due to Lack of Intent

A Monaco court has acquitted a local lawyer accused of possessing child pornography in the form of comic images, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to prove intent. The images, found on the lawyer's computer during a 2017 investigation linked to the legal dispute between Russian billionaire Dmitri Rybolovlev and Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier, depicted minors in explicit scenarios. Prosecutors had argued for a three-month suspended sentence and a €5,000 fine, emphasizing that the images were computer-generated illustrations, which they claimed did not carry the same weight as actual photographs of real-life abuse.

The defense, led by attorneys William Bourdon and Basile Oudet, argued that the questionable comics could have been downloaded unintentionally amidst a vast collection of over 100,000 files, or might have been planted as part of a smear campaign amidst the high-stakes legal battle. The lawyer, a 60-year-old Monegasque, maintained that he was unaware of these specific files within his extensive digital library. During the trial, he stressed the impracticality of manually reviewing each of the thousands of comics stored on his device.

Ultimately, the criminal court ruled in favor of the defense, acquitting the lawyer due to insufficient evidence of deliberate possession or access to the contentious material. The decision was influenced by findings that no real minors were depicted in the images and the absence of related search terms in the lawyer's internet history. Technical limitations during the forensic examination, which only analyzed about 10% of the lawyer's hard drive, also hindered a definitive conclusion on whether the comics had ever been opened, contributing to the court's decision to err on the side of doubt.