No charges despite new child porn law
A year after the introduction of a new law banning the viewing of child porn, not a single charge has been filed with police admitting that they can't actively look for transgressors, according to a report in daily Dagens Nyheter (DN).
“We only discover this if we confiscate a computer on suspicion of another crime,” said Björn Sellström, head of the child porn unit at the national police (Rikskriminalen) to DN.
To download or own pornographic images or footage of children has been a crime in Sweden since 1999 and since July last year it has also been illegal to look at child porn, for example on internet sites.
But so far, no one has been charged with the crime.
According to the police this is because they can’t scan the net randomly to find these people. The discovery would have to occur in connection to another crime.
Also, Sellström told DN the law isn’t clear on how much child porn a person must have viewed on the internet for charges to be filed.
He also thinks that the courts aren’t aware of the nature of the material when they evaluate the crime.
“They don’t see the viewing of this material as sexual abuse but as possession,” he said to DN.
But according to Mari-Ann Roos of the department of justice the changes in legislation have served their purpose.
She told the paper that the aim of the change in legislation was to close up holes and make sure that any action concerning child porn was a punishable offence.
“It is of less concern to us whether or not the police are able to take measure against the perpetrators,” she told DN.
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“We only discover this if we confiscate a computer on suspicion of another crime,” said Björn Sellström, head of the child porn unit at the national police (Rikskriminalen) to DN.
To download or own pornographic images or footage of children has been a crime in Sweden since 1999 and since July last year it has also been illegal to look at child porn, for example on internet sites.
But so far, no one has been charged with the crime.
According to the police this is because they can’t scan the net randomly to find these people. The discovery would have to occur in connection to another crime.
Also, Sellström told DN the law isn’t clear on how much child porn a person must have viewed on the internet for charges to be filed.
He also thinks that the courts aren’t aware of the nature of the material when they evaluate the crime.
“They don’t see the viewing of this material as sexual abuse but as possession,” he said to DN.
But according to Mari-Ann Roos of the department of justice the changes in legislation have served their purpose.
She told the paper that the aim of the change in legislation was to close up holes and make sure that any action concerning child porn was a punishable offence.
“It is of less concern to us whether or not the police are able to take measure against the perpetrators,” she told DN.
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