Criminal Code (Cap. 9), article 208A

208A. (1) Any citizen or permanent resident of Malta whether in Malta or outside Malta, as well as any person in Malta, who mak es or produces or permits to be made or produced any indecent material involving or showing persons under age or produces, distributes, disseminates, imports , exports, offers, sells, sup plies, transmits, makes available, procures for oneself or for another , or shows such indecent material shall, on conviction, be liable imprisonment for a term from twelve months to five years. (1A) The offence in sub-articl e (1) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term from two to eight years, with or withou t solitary confinemen t, in each of the following cases: (a) when the offender wilfully or recklessly endangered the life of the person under age; (b) when the offence involves violence or grievous bodily harm on such person; (c) when the offence is committed with the involvement of a criminal organisation within the meaning of article 83A(1). (1B) Any person who acquires, knowingly obtains access through information and communication technologies to, or is in possession of, any indecent material which shows, depicts or represents a person under age, s hall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from not exceeding three years. (1C) For the purposes of sub-article (1) the expression "permanent resident" shall have the same meaning assigned to it by article 5(1)( d). (2) A photograph, film, video recording or electronic image shall, if it shows a person under age and is indecent, be treat ed for all purposes of this article as an indecent photograph, film, v ideo recording or el ectronic image. (3) Where the offences in sub-articles (1) and (1B) are committed by any ascendant by consanguinity or affinity, or by any one of the adoptive parents, or by the tutor, or by any other p erson charged, even though temporarily, with the care, education, instruction, control or custody of the person under age shown, depicted or represented in the indecent material, or where such person under age has not completed the age of nine years or whe re the indecent material s hows, depicts or rep resents a minor invo lved in acts of bestiality, brutality, sadism or torture: 106 CAP . 9.] CRIMINAL CODE (a) in the case of the offence in sub-article (1), the punishment shall be of imprisonment for a term from two to nine years, and (b) in the case of the offence in sub-article (1B), the punishment shall be of imprisonment for a term from six months to four years, and the provisions of arti cle 197(4) shall also apply. (4) Where a person is charged with distributing or showing, or with being in possession of, any indecent material under sub-ar ticle (1), it shall be a defence for h im to prove that he had a legit imate reason for distributing or showi ng, or for having in his posses sion, such indecent material, or that h e had not himself seen the ind ecent material, and neither knew nor had any reason to suspect them t o be indecent. (5) For the purposes of article 635(1)( a), the person under age shown in the indecent material shall be deemed to be the person against whom the offence is committed. (6) In this article references to a photograph includes the negative as well as the positive version. (7) For the purposes of this ar ticle the expression "indecent material" includes photographs, images, audio or video recordin gs, digitally created or electronic images, drawings, cartoons, tex t and simulated representations or real istic images of a minor, or an y material that visually depicts any person appearing to be a chi ld, even if the minor is non-existent, or of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes. Meeting a child following sexual grooming etc. Added by: VII.2010.12. Amended by: IV .2014.12. XIII.2018.24; LXIV .2021.15.