HELSINKI – Finnish prosecutors have charged a man over the sexual abuse of 361 children via social media, the National Prosecution Authority said on June 3.
The offences were committed between 2019 and 2022, with the victims aged from nine to 15, according to the authority.
The Finnish police said in December that they were investigating the case in question and suspected a 27-year-old man of 364 sexual offences against children.
The prosecution authority said on June 3 that prosecutors decided not to press charges in three of the cases.
Thousands of videos and images of unidentified children were found on the man’s mobile phone in 2022, when the police searched his phone in connection with another criminal case, the police said in December.
The man contacted the children via social media platform Snapchat, asking them to take and send him photos or videos of themselves wearing very little clothing or naked.
He also requested them to perform sexual acts, police said.
The main charges were aggravated sexual abuse of children, sexual abuse of children and aggravated distribution of an image depicting children in a sexual manner, according to the prosecutor.
The man partly admitted to the offences during the investigation.
The trial is scheduled to begin in September, the prosecution authority said. AFP
