Dubai Police’s cybercrime unit has imposed a fine of 150,000 dirhams ($40,845) to a Polish cabin crew member as well as six months in prison for illegally accessing pornographic material, reports Gulf News. The man, aged 30, was caught during a sporadic surveillance exercise. The defendant had accessed a number of files with pornographic content featuring children.

The defendant was subsequently charged and tried by Dubai’s Misdemeanours Court where he was convicted of accessing and circulating child pornography that had been identified through his IP address by a local internet provider. He was found to have circulated the files “on a special program that enables its users to share files online”.

The defendant’s lawyer argued that the privacy of his client was unlawfully breached by the cybercrime police who did not obtain a proper search warrant to detain the man who was on his way to Thailand. The defendant admitted to using keywords 13 years, teen sex and porn while surfing but claims he did not share files with anyone.

The defendant has appealed the ruling and hopes for an acquittal when he appears in court again later this month.