Schätzung des Lebensalters kindlicher Opfer auf Bilddokumenten Rechtliche Implikationen und Bedeutung im Ermittlungsverfahren

In recent years more and more digital images with suspected pedopornographic content are being subjected to analysis by the law enforcement authorities. In this procedure the age of the victims plays a central role. The conventional age estimation from photographs is typically based on the evaluation of physical signs of sexual maturity, dental status (if observable) and body proportions. The analysis of facial proportions is a new approach which supplements the former criteria. As the development of the face is in general not fully completed until the age of 18 years, this approach provides an additional benefit due to the recently established age threshold of 18 years for juvenile pornography in Europe. The development of software for an automated age estimation based on facial proportions will contribute to a reduction of invested time and effort during the investigations into cases of suspected child abuse.