Republished November 10, 2017 - 2:53 AM
Original Publication Date November 10, 2017 - 2:11 AM
STOCKHOLM - A man faces 10 years in prison in Sweden where he is accused of coercing teenagers in Canada, Britain and the United States to perform sexual acts in front of webcams by threatening them or their families.
The 41-year-old defendant is accused of online sexual offences against 27 children between 2015 and early 2017, and had threatened to post photos of them on porn sites or kill relatives unless they performed sexual acts as he watched in Sweden.
In Sweden, rape doesn't have to involve intercourse. It can be another act considered to be equally violating.
During the 20-day trial in Uppsala, some 70 kilometres (43.4 miles) north of Stockholm, prosecutor Annika Wennerstrom requested during the trial's last day Thursday that the unnamed man get 10 years in prison. The trial was held behind closed doors to protect the girls' identities.
The court said Friday that a verdict is due Nov. 30.
The Swedish case came to light when the defendant was being investigated for another alleged sex crime and police found at his home videos of foreign girls speaking English. Swedish investigators contacted counterparts in Canada, Britain and the United States who interviewed the girls.
Local newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning said he had earlier been convicted in similar cases and the prosecutor pointed out during the trial he had used the same method to pressure the girls under the age of 15 to perform sexual acts.
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Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017