After completion of the trial, CJM Pradeep Kumar found the accused guilty and pronounced the sentence on November 3.
Visakhapatnam:The Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here has sentenced a man to three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 for uploading sexually explicit videos involving children on Instagram.
Accused Pentakota Harshavardhan, a native of Visakhapatnam district, was convicted in a case registered by the Visakhapatnam Cyber Crime Police under Section 67-B of the IT Act.
The case originated from Cyber Tipline reports received from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, which flagged social media accounts allegedly involved in uploading and circulating sexually explicit content involving children.
The reports were forwarded through the Union home ministry and the AP CID to the Visakhapatnam City Police for investigation.
Acting on Circular Memo No. 77/D5/CCRB/VSP City/2022, cybercrime officials examined NCMEC report IDs 71306976 and 71308225.
A case was registered on March 28, 2022, under Crime No. 174/2022, invoking Section 67-B of the IT Act. During the investigation, police used technical evidence to identify Harshavardhan as the person behind the Instagram account 'harsha_weirdo'.
Police said the accused used to watch pornographic and entertainment videos on social media, download certain videos involving children onto his mobile phone and subsequently upload them through his Instagram account.
After completion of the trial, CJM Pradeep Kumar found the accused guilty and pronounced the sentence on November 3.
