The Senate on Wednesday adopted a legislative proposal to modify the Criminal Code, redefining the offence currently referred to as child pornography and adjusting penalties according to the seriousness of the offences committed.
The proposal was approved with 78 votes in favour, 31 against and five abstentions.
The modified text provides that: 'The procurement, possession, storage, distribution or making available, by any means, of materials containing child sexual abuse shall be punishable by imprisonment from two to seven years and the prohibition of certain rights. (...) Encouraging, recruiting or coercing a minor to participate in a performance involving child sexual abuse, obtaining benefits from such a performance, or otherwise exploiting a minor for the production of such performances shall be punishable by imprisonment from five to twelve years and the prohibition of certain rights, provided the act does not constitute a more serious offence.'
The bill also stipulates that: 'The production, possession or storage of materials containing child sexual abuse shall not constitute a criminal offence if the materials depict exclusively the perpetrator and are not intended for distribution, display, promotion or making available to other persons.'
Penalties for knowingly accessing materials containing child sexual abuse would increase from one to three years' imprisonment to one to five years' imprisonment, while penalties for attending performances involving the sexual abuse of minors would rise from one to five years to two to seven years.
The legislative proposal will next be debated by the Chamber of Deputies of Romania, which is the decision-making chamber in this case.
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