24 go on trial in Sweden over child pornography

Sep 13, 2011, 12:07 GMT

Stockholm - Proceedings opened Tuesday in a Swedish district court on charges against a man and 23 women over possession and distribution of child pornography.

The women were between 38 to 70 years of age, and came from various parts of the country, prosecutor Niclas Eltenius said at the trial in Falun, western Sweden.

The common factor was possession of pornographic images of children, and the 43-year-old man who initiated contact with the women and distributed the images, Eltenius said. At least two of the women however also supplied the man images.

The large number of women linked to the case makes it unusual, researchers such as Gotheburg University's Marie Eneman who has studied child pornography and IT has said.

The images were sent over the internet via email and from chatrooms.

Evidence in the case included chat logs retrieved from the man's computer, which suggested that some of the female defendants also asked to receive the photos and videos, Eltenius said.

Some of the women face prison terms of up to two years while the man could receive a six-year term. The man has admitted to sending the images but his defence attorney argued that the crime should not be labelled as gross.

The group was uncovered a year ago when police investigated the man over child abuse allegations. Although these allegations proved unfounded, a search of his computer revealed hundreds of child pornographic images.