Child Porn Ring Busted: 23 Women Convicted for Child Pornography
In a unique case involving child pornography, 23 women and one man were convicted on Tuesday of child pornography offenses.
The case is distinctive not only because the perpetrators of the crime involve so many women, but also because the women involved in the crime range between the ages of 38 to 70.
The case originates from Sweden and Swedish police have said that they have reason to believe that this case may be the first child pornography case worldwide to involve so many women.
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On Tuesday, the Falun district court in central Sweden handed the women suspended sentences and ordered them to pay fines ranging from 2,500 kronor to 18,000 kronor, or between $375 to $2,691.
Although the sentences for the women might seem minimal, the court found that the women involved in the case were “psychologically unstable” and that the real ringleader of the crime was Lars Skoglund, a 43-year-old man that distributed the illegal pornographic materials to the women.
The court said, “Even though they (the women) … obviously must take full responsibility for their actions, nothing else can be said than that he has abused their weak psychological state and longing for human contact. This has been systematical.”
Skoglund was convicted of aggravated child pornography and was sentenced to one year in prison.
The court determined that Skoglund sought out women via the Internet that had been mentally “worn out” or that had survived serious tragedies to share his child pornography images and videos with.
Skoglund would send the women sexually explicit video clips and photographs of children of various ages ranging from toddlers to teenagers and discuss the images and videos online with the women.
He also had sexual relations with several of the women.
He admitted to a child pornography offense, but denied the he committed an aggregative crime.
