British man sentenced to 7 years and a half in jail in Moldova

The British citizen arrested by the Moldovan police in June 2008 over sexual abuse of four minors was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison. The judgment was passed on March 12 by the Court of Botanica District after the defendant’s actions were re-classified from trafficking in children into compulsion to have sexual relations. The state prosecutor demanded 22 years’ imprisonment for the accused. The General Prosecutor’s Office considers the modification of charges as groundless and will appeal the decision to a higher court, the Office says in a communiqué, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Before arrested, Deacon David Brian, 48, who continues to plead not guilty, worked as foreign consultant at a foreign capital company in the municipality of Chisinau. The prosecutors say that he got acquainted with minors from socially-vulnerable families, most often in cybercafés, tempted them with sweets, mobile phones and other presents and persuaded them to accompany him to an apartment that he rented in Botanica district, where he showed them pornography and subjected them to noncommercial sexual exploitation. Upon a search of his home, the police found and seized two computers containing pornographic images with children.