The 24 seats in the small courtroom at the Tiergarten district court in Berlin are quickly filled. Young and old people came to follow the trial against Mario O. The 46-year-old defendant wears a pink hoodie, cap and black mask as he enters the courtroom. He will leave the hall that day with a ten-month prison sentence, suspended.
Mario O. performed for years as the drag queen Jurassica Parka, and he was also known as a stage artist beyond Berlin. Then O. received serious accusations. In July 2025, investigators found child and youth pornography material at his home: 131 child pornography videos with a total length of five hours and 25 minutes, 28 images, 17 youth pornography videos with a length of 56 minutes and five other images. They were saved on different data carriers.
O. admitted ownership of the photos and videos in court on Wednesday. “This is the testimony of my deep and dark times,” he says and appears remorseful. "In hindsight, I'm shocked that this came out. I never want to go back there again." The judge asks: “You admit that you owned these files?” Mario O. says yes.
“I have had an addiction for many years”
When it comes to the reasons for his behavior, he explains: “I have had an addiction for many years and have never treated it.” He admits to being a pedophile and alcohol addict, which is why he is currently in therapy. "I immediately researched: What can I do? With this malfunction in my brain: Where can I get help?" He entered a 15-week long-term rehabilitation program for alcohol addicts and is currently receiving follow-up care. “My main work was always where others spend their free time, and there was always alcohol,” says Mario O. He could never return to his job. Pedophilic tendencies are part of the personality. “This will always be a part of me,” he says with tears in his eyes.
Mario O. describes the offers for pedophiles as “poor”. For example, he cannot use the Charité's services while criminal proceedings are ongoing. He now wants to take care of getting a place for therapy. He wants to spend “the second half of this life somehow free of consumption, unpunished and happy”.
He will never be able to return to his old job
Mario O. has already been in court once: In October 2023, he was convicted of distributing, acquiring and possessing child pornography, and was sentenced to a fine of 160 daily rates of 70 euros each. He had uploaded child pornography material to a social media platform. According to the verdict, he had drunk at least two bottles of white wine shortly before the crime and his ability to control himself may have been limited.
In response to a question from the public prosecutor, Mario O. replied that it was clear to him at the time that things couldn't have continued like this, but then he started using again. "Then my head just switches off. I didn't reflect at all. Otherwise I wouldn't be here right now." The judge also asked: “After the first time it was clear to you that you had to do something, you didn’t do anything, but now you did.” Mario O. says yes again.
Parts of the process take place behind closed doors. In its plea, the public prosecutor's office is demanding a prison sentence of one year and one month, which can be suspended. In addition, O. should undergo therapy. What speaks in favor of the defendant is that he confessed and was remorseful. From the prosecutor's point of view, his previous conviction and the acts themselves are to his detriment.
“My client was not given anonymity”
O.'s defense attorney advocates for a lighter sentence: The prosecutor's demand is disproportionate to the amount of material confiscated. The defendant had already experienced the “death of his career” due to public reporting and was socially ostracized. “My client was not given anonymity.” He lost everything he had built up over 20 years as a stage artist.
The judge ultimately sentenced Mario O. to a ten-month suspended prison sentence. “Fortunately, what sexual inclinations a person has is irrelevant in this country; everyone is allowed to handle it as they wish,” she said in her verdict. “But as soon as another person is harmed, we are in the area of state protection.” Mario O. was aware of his pedophilia - but not so aware that he sought help on his own initiative. Through the process he faced this topic for the first time.
In his case, the punishment depends on the extent and type of material as well as his insight and his previous conviction. The judge ends with a warning. “I assume that they will no longer commit the same acts,” she says. “I use it to play the ball into your court.” The verdict is not yet final.
