Colombia’s Supreme Court on Thursday absolved a U.S. citizen of the charge of lewd and lascivious acts with children, but upheld his prison sentence for the possession of child pornography.
The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court maintained the May 2009 sentence handed down by the Superior Tribunal of Bogota to Ralph Paladino for the crime of possessing child porn.
The Supreme Court decided that despite the existence of clear evidence of his responsibility of having in his possession pornographic content of minors, it was not proven that he used the internet to contact children to carry out sexual activities.
Despite the partial absolvement of charges, the court did not lower the Bogota court’s 15-year prison sentence.
After serving time and paying a fine, Paladino will be expelled to the United States where he faces two convictions relating to sexual activities with minors.
