Ústí nad Labem Court Reduces Sentence for Man Convicted of Molesting Two Boys

In June, the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem upheld an appeal filed by a thirty-year-old resident of Rumburk in the Děčín region, who had been found guilty last November by the Děčín District Court of molesting a twelve-year-old and a ten-year-old boy. Instead of the originally imposed three and a half years in prison, the man received a suspended sentence and a fine.

According to police, the defendant began meeting with the older boy in late summer/early autumn 2022. Up until March 2023, they met as many as ten times — at the man's apartment, in his garage, or in his car. Reports indicate the boy came from a troubled family: his father had abandoned him, and his mother struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. The teenager received between 300 and 1,000 crowns, most often 500, for sexual services.

The older boy brought the younger one, who was just 10 years old at the time, to the man's home on two occasions. The defendant molested him as well, again paying him money, while knowing full well the child's age. Police charged the man with endangering the moral upbringing of children, coercion into sexual acts, and, most seriously, sexual abuse of minors. The defendant admitted only to the meetings with the older boy and denied molesting the ten-year-old.

Reduced Sentence and Fine

The man appealed the Děčín court's verdict, arguing it was too harsh. The Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem granted the appeal, handing down a three-year suspended sentence with a five-year probation period. The court also ordered the convicted man to pay a fine of 450,000 crowns and 70,000 crowns in compensation to the younger victim.

The appellate court criticized the lower court for failing to adequately weigh mitigating circumstances in the defendant's favor — namely, his previously law-abiding life and positive references from his workplace. The court described the six-month period of frequent meetings with the older boy as a "one-off aberration." The ruling's reasoning also claimed that the minors themselves had repeatedly offered their services to the defendant for money and had talked him into sexual contact.

Dispute Over Victim Blame

This version of events, however, contradicts Instagram correspondence cited by police in the indictment, which shows that it was the defendant who initiated contact with the older boy at least five times, asking him to come over. According to prosecutor Lukáš Otipka, shifting blame from the perpetrator onto the children is unacceptable. "You cannot accuse twelve- and ten-year-old children of earning money this way and count that in favor of the perpetrator who molests them. These children remain victims — nothing else," the prosecutor said.

The court also cited, as a mitigating factor, a "long-term disturbance" in the older boy's mental state stemming from difficulties of adolescence, noting that the teenager had provided paid sexual services to other men as well, and had later blackmailed them by threatening to go to the police, and allegedly had himself raped another boy.

Independent attorney and former prosecutor Věra Nováková, who specializes in crimes against children, sharply criticized the appellate court's ruling, calling it "perverse." In her view, the court essentially declared that the child was to blame for not being born into better circumstances, and that his basic rights therefore carry less weight.

The case is now under review by the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office, which could theoretically file a cassation complaint or propose that the Minister of Justice submit a motion alleging a breach of the law, to be reviewed by the Supreme Court. Prosecution spokesman Petr Malý said the office is examining the possibility of exercising its relevant powers but declined to comment on the verdict until the review is complete. Judge Jana Kurešová, who presided over the appellate panel, maintains that the suspended sentence is a proportionate and sufficient punishment.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz