The prosecutor asked for 20 years in custody in what is one of the biggest online abuse cases in Norwegian history. The court disagreed with detention and sentenced the man to 20 years in prison, writes NRK.
The man has also been sentenced to pay more than NOK 28 million in compensation to the victims.
The court believes that the crimes are so serious that the starting point for the punishment is 21 years in prison.
– The large number of victims, their young age, the severity and scope of the actions towards both the individual victim and overall indicate this, district court judge Tarjei Ræder Breivoll writes in the judgment according to NRK.
At the same time, the man has admitted assault, which gives him a limited confession discount of one year.
The man came into contact with children as young as 6 years old via online chat services, and is said to have caused the children to perform sexual acts against themselves and other children on the now defunct Omegle.
In several of the cases, the man allegedly threatened to publish the recordings if the children did not do as he said.
During the trial, two court-appointed experts have given statements.
They diagnosed the man as a pedophile and believed that he met a number of criteria that are associated with an increased risk of committing sexual abuse.
The man, who worked at a school, has pleaded guilty, but denies that he is sexually attracted to children.
NRK has not succeeded in getting a comment on the verdict from the man’s defenders.
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