They Livestreamed Abuse of a Minor: Why Didn't They End Up in Prison?

Two young men, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, who livestreamed the sexual abuse of a minor girl on a social network, did not end up in pretrial detention. Although the prosecution sought their detention due to the severity of the crimes and the risk of influencing witnesses, the investigating judge of the Zagreb County Court made a different decision.

Key Evidence Is the Recording, Not the Victim's Testimony

In explaining the decision not to order pretrial detention, the investigating judge stated that there is no fear that the suspects could influence the victim's testimony. The key reason lies in the fact that the act of abuse itself was recorded and published online, making the recording the central piece of evidence. According to unofficial information from Index.hr, the platform in question is TikTok.

In addition to being prohibited from any contact with the girl, the young men have also been ordered to report to the police regularly. Furthermore, by the judge's decision, they are banned from using the internet, with a special emphasis on TikTok.

Youth and Lack of Prior Convictions Worked in Their Favor

The judge's decision was also influenced by the fact that both perpetrators are very young. One of them turned 18 earlier this year, while the other celebrated his 19th birthday on the day of his arrest. An additional mitigating circumstance is that neither of them had been previously convicted.

Disturbing Details from the Criminal Report

Yesterday, the police filed a criminal report against the two young men on suspicion of committing the criminal offenses of violating a child's rights, lewd acts against a minor, and unauthorized recording. Both claimed during questioning that it was just "a joke."

The recording, however, reveals a dramatically different reality. In it, the girl can be clearly heard resisting their touches and saying that it hurts, while the young men direct derogatory comments at her. At one point, one of the perpetrators utters a sentence that further illustrates the recklessness of the situation: "Your dad is watching you on the live... More people are watching you than ever before." Other comments from the criminal report are so inappropriate that the media have not published them.

Potential Sentences

Serious prison sentences are prescribed for the crimes they are charged with. For violating a child's rights, i.e., forcing a child to behave inappropriately for their age, the maximum sentence is five years in prison. For lewd acts against a minor, a sentence of up to five years in prison is also prescribed. For unauthorized recording after which the recording became available to a larger number of people, a sentence of up to three years in prison is prescribed.