– The verdict sends a signal that the police are willing to devote considerable resources to cases concerning directly transmitted rapes of children who are abroad. This is what state attorney Jeanette Westlund Hegna says to news. A man in his 50s from Moss has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for online assault against five Filipino children. In total, he has been convicted of eleven assaults against the children, who were aged between 5 and 11 when the assaults took place. – He has been convicted of having committed three cases of aggravated rape and eight cases of attempted aggravated rape, says Hegna. Østfoldingen has also been convicted of having stored more than 18,000 images and videos of abuse. Moss Avis mentioned the judgment first. State Attorney Jeanette Westlund Hegna. Photo: Benjamin Vorland Andersrød / news Directly broadcast from the Philippines The assaults were broadcast live from the Philippines to the man’s apartment in Moss via Skype. At least six facilitators in the Philippines have received payments from him to commit abuse against the children. According to the verdict, Östfolding paid less than NOK 400 for each of the assaults. – He has asked to see the children naked, talked about “kids sex” and requested sexual intercourse between children and adults, the judgment states. The conversation below is a reconstruction of a message exchange the man has had with a facilitator: MMann:i was looking for mom with daughtersBBeth:but no show with here In September last year, one of the facilitators who organized the Eastfolding was arrested in an international police operation. Seven children were rescued from an everyday life characterized by abuse. In September 2022, the police in the Philippines rescued seven children from an everyday life characterized by abuse. Photo: Kripos From this bedroom in the Philippines, the abuse of young children is said to have been transmitted directly to people on the other side of the world. Photo: Kripos This is what it looked like on the inside of the one home the police raided. Photo: Kripos Thinks it was role playing The man in his 50s pleaded not guilty to the assaults when he appeared in Søndre Østfold district court last year. In court, he denied having seen videos of child abuse. He explained that the conversations with the facilitators were a role-play, and not the real world. He admitted to sending money to them, but claimed he did this to be kind. Defender Sol Elden and co-defender Mojdeh Allahpour. Photo: Benjamin Vorland Andersrød / news – When he now sees the images that have been circulating in the chats, he thinks it is absolutely terrible, the judgment says. It is unknown whether he will appeal the sentence. Defense attorney Sol Elden has not responded to news’s inquiries on Wednesday. In court, however, she said that the evidence in the case suffers from obvious deficiencies. She therefore thought her client should be acquitted of the rapes. Asked for 15 years’ detention The court believes it is “connected with great uncertainty” whether the man will commit further assaults when he is released from prison. – Even if the defendant is convicted of extensive offences, it is difficult to assume that the pattern of action will not cease, the judgment states. They still ended up giving him a fixed term sentence of 13 years in prison. The trial took place in Søndre Østfold district court in November and December last year. Photo: Benjamin Vorland Andersrød / news The man in his 50s has been in custody since he was arrested in October 2021. He has no previous criminal convictions. State Attorney Hegna submitted in his final proceedings that he should be sentenced to 15 years’ detention, with a minimum term of 10 years. – We note that the court has not granted us a request for detention. We will now familiarize ourselves thoroughly with the judgment’s premises and assess whether we should appeal the sentencing, says Hegna. Must not pay restitution Although the man was convicted of abusing the Filipino children, he was not ordered to pay restitution to them. Assistant lawyer Tone Monclair reacts to that. She is considering appealing the decision. – I was prepared that the children would be assessed differently. But I was not prepared for us to get a judgment where no one was awarded any compensation, says Monclair.
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