ITALIAN COURT RULES: SENDING PORN TO MINORS IS SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Sending pornographic images to a minor via WhatsApp can be legitimately prosecuted as sexual violence, Italy's top court said Tuesday (September 8, 2020), and the ruling could pave the way for the prosecution of more suspected sexual offenders in cyberspace.

The Supreme Court of Cassation rejected an appeal from a man who sent sexually explicit photos to an underage girl and asked her to do the same for him, thus junking the argument that the act was a private matter, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Other cases in US courts and tribunals in other countries have similarly posited the argument that the transmission of such photos is a privileged communication between the transmitter and recipient.

However, a minor is not considered a consenting adult and explicit photos do violence on the underage recipient, the Cassation Court's ruling stressed, thus setting a legal precedent in Italy.

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