Hundreds of local people have joined an online group calling for tighter laws on child pornography.

The group was set up on the social networking site Facebook following a recent court case that highlighted a glaring hole in Gibraltar’s legislation.

 

A man who admitted distributing nearly 5000 pornographic images of children - including some extreme photos - was jailed for 18 months for publishing obscene material.

But he could not be prosecuted for having the images in the first place because possession of child pornography is not a crime in Gibraltar.

“I set up this group out of anger,” said Nick Gonzalez, the group’s creator.

“I wanted to create awareness and put pressure on the government and the judicial system to change this situation as soon as possible.”

In just over a week over 600 people have joined the group, which is called “Child Pornography Laws in Gibraltar Should be Changed NOW!”.

The comments on the user forum are often emotive and angry, but mainly express underlying bewilderment as to why Gibraltar has such an inexplicable shortfall in its laws.

Change, however, is on its way, though the timetable is not certain.

The Gibraltar Government has drafted a new law covering computer misuse and including penalties of up to 10 years in jail for possession of child pornography.

But although the Bill has been ready since last year, it has not yet been tabled in Parliament and passed into law.

A separate legislative proposal covering sexual offences has also been drafted. It includes provisions for a sexual offenders’ register, which Gibraltar does not currently have.

But this too has yet to be tabled in Parliament and passed into law.