Swede accused of sexually abusing children online in US, UK and Canada
Prosecutors are trying to get a Swedish man convicted of rape for a string of cyber sex attacks – even though he was never in the same room as his alleged victims.
The 41-year-old man, from Uppland county, is accused of having targeted at least 27 children in the US, Canada and Scotland online, coercing them into performing sex acts for his viewing pleasure.
According to the charges, he took images of his victims, added text such as "Come and find me, rape me, then kill my family", and then sent them back to the children, telling them he would post them on porn and rape sites, all in efforts to blackmail them into performing more sexual acts for the webcam.
The man allegedly asked one 14-year-old American girl to perform oral sex on a passer-by, and made her undress, penetrate herself with her fingers and with other objects and perform sex acts with a dog.
She said he threatened to shoot her and her family if she did not do what he asked.
The TT news agency reports that the man has admitted certain allegations, but denies rape.
Defence prosecutor Kronje Samuelsson argued the crime doesn't match Sweden's definition of rape.
"As we understand it, as the court of appeal has ruled (in a separate case), if you are not in the same room then you cannot be convicted of rape," he told TT.
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Sweden significantly broadened its definition of rape in 2005, which means the word "rape" can be used to record acts which would be called assault or bodily harm in other countries.
However, no one in Sweden has ever been convicted of rape for online sex acts.
READ ALSO: Sweden's rape statistics explained
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The 41-year-old man, from Uppland county, is accused of having targeted at least 27 children in the US, Canada and Scotland online, coercing them into performing sex acts for his viewing pleasure.
According to the charges, he took images of his victims, added text such as "Come and find me, rape me, then kill my family", and then sent them back to the children, telling them he would post them on porn and rape sites, all in efforts to blackmail them into performing more sexual acts for the webcam.
The man allegedly asked one 14-year-old American girl to perform oral sex on a passer-by, and made her undress, penetrate herself with her fingers and with other objects and perform sex acts with a dog.
She said he threatened to shoot her and her family if she did not do what he asked.
The TT news agency reports that the man has admitted certain allegations, but denies rape.
Defence prosecutor Kronje Samuelsson argued the crime doesn't match Sweden's definition of rape.
"As we understand it, as the court of appeal has ruled (in a separate case), if you are not in the same room then you cannot be convicted of rape," he told TT.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545; min-height: 14.0px} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545}
Sweden significantly broadened its definition of rape in 2005, which means the word "rape" can be used to record acts which would be called assault or bodily harm in other countries.
However, no one in Sweden has ever been convicted of rape for online sex acts.
READ ALSO: Sweden's rape statistics explained
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