Romanian director and actor Mihnea Columbeanu (photo) was sentenced to 26 years and four months in prison on Tuesday, after a court ruling found him guilty of child pornography charge.
Columbeanu was actually sentenced for more recurrent crimes, child pornography, children trafficking and sexual assault. However, the ruling is not final, it can be challenged at Bucharest Court of Appeal.
In the same file, the mother of one of the director’s victims was also sentenced to nine years and four months in jail. The woman was found guilty of complicity to child pornography. She was practically offering her under aged daughter to have sex with Columbeanu. Both Mihnea Columbeanu and Gabriela Ionescu must pay EUR 25,000 to the victim Andreea Ionescu and EUR 5,000 each for other six victims.
Mihnea Columbeanu has been incarcerated since July 31, 2014.
The investigators’ evidence reveals that the director sheltered several under aged girls at his place, for the sexual exploitation purpose, during June 2010 and June 2014. One of the girls was just seven years old.
According to the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the 54 year-old director has also accessed pornographic files involving children through P2P network. Using the “Mike” ID, Columbeanu used to deliver the files to other network users as well. 12 hard disks, four memory sticks and 1,331 DVDs and CDs with pornographic recordings have been found at his place. Later on, the director admitted the charges in front of the magistrates.