Police officer found guilty of collecting child porn

Photo: Police officer found guilty of collecting child porn

Police officer found guilty of collecting child porn

A Vienna police officer was found guilty of collecting and hoarding thousands of child pornography photos and videos on his computer on Tuesday.

The court handed down a six-month suspended sentence and ordered the 45-year-old man, who has a son, to pay a EUR7,700 (US$11,244) fine.

The man's actions came to light last summer in the course of a German investigation that tracked down 6,000 consumers of child pornography worldwide, the Austria Press Agency reported.

In comments quoted by APA, the man said he began surfing the Internet in search of the illicit material in 1999 and that his interest was sparked by television reports.

During his court appearance, the man also admitted to collecting videos showing extreme violence and true-to-life killing scenes.

It was not immediately clear if the man, who has been suspended from his duties, will have to leave the police force.