Sebastian Edathy, a former rising star in Germany’s Social Democratic Party, has confessed during his trial to downloading indecent photos and videos of children from the Internet, using his official government laptop in 2013.

According to a Deutsche Welle report, following his confession on Monday, Edathy was handed by the Verden District Court a fine of 5,000 euros.

The 45-year-old former politician was facing accusations that he downloaded child pornography to his work laptop and that he owned other material that was considered “harmful to young people.”

Edathy stood down from parliament a year ago, when his name had appeared on the client list of a Canadian company which was allegedly distributing child pornography.

It should be noted that, at the beginning of the trial, Edathy was denying doing anything illegal, claiming that the material in his possession was art, and not pornography.

However, following a suggestion from the prosecution that if he pleaded guilty it might accept a fine, the former German politician changed his mind and decided to confess.