Swedish man suspected of running sex network in Thailand has been sentenced to prison

From his parents’ home in Stockholm, a Swedish man controlled a network that deceived underage girls in Thailand to send nude photos and videos of themselves. Material that was later resold to thousands on social media (link).

The Swedish man has now been sentenced to four years and six months in prison for his crimes.

The man was arrested in in January 2022 after cooperation between Swedish and Thai authorities. Thai police had discovered a network selling child pornography in closed groups on the social media platform VK. The business was traced to a property in Stockholm where the man was arrested.

Most of the victims were between 13 and 17 years old when they were exposed. They have later told the authorities, that they were contacted by men who offered them money to photograph or film themselves naked. The girls were never paid, and the material was instead resold without their approval or knowledge.

The material consists of nearly 75,000 images and 20,000 films. 80 images and 400 films are judged to be particularly reckless.

The preliminary investigation showed that the closed groups on VK had between 20,000 and 30,000 paying members. The now-convicted man is set to have collected over two million Swedish kroner.

He is being sentenced for aggravated child pornography, aggravated money laundering, aggravated unlawful invasion of privacy and unlawful portrayal of violence. He must also pay nearly one million Swedish kroner in damages to six plaintiffs.

Source: svt.se

About Miabell Mallikka

Miabell Mallikka is a journalist working with ScandAsia at the headquarters in Bangkok.

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