24 sentenced in Sweden over child pornography

Oct 18, 2011, 12:36 GMT

Stockholm - A Swedish district court Tuesday sentenced a man and 23 women over possession and distribution of child pornography.

The man was sentenced to a year-long prison sentence while the women - aged between 38 and 71 - received suspended sentences and fines.

Evidence in the case included chat logs retrieved from the man's computer. These logs suggested that some of the female defendants, who were from different parts of the country, also asked to receive the photos and videos.

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.

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

The court ruled that the man had 'taken advantage' of the women's emotional state - several were under severe psychological distress - and longing for human contact.

The investigation was launched 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.

The large number of women linked to the case made it unusual, according to researchers such as Gothenburg University's Marie Eneman who has studied over 700 cases involving child pornography and IT.