New crime phenomenon: Child porn is spread for sensational purposes

A couple of examples of the phenomenon are two primary school students who were recently convicted of child pornography offenses at Lund District Court.

The two students had in one and the same class chat shared films that were judged to be child pornography.

Both students claim that the films were spread jokingly, and one claims that he did not even see the film, but that he only spread it further.

However, the district court does not take a position on whether the motives behind the acts were sexual or not.

Björn Sellström, commissioner at the police's national operational department (NOA), likens the phenomenon to sharing films about accidents or fights.

- Very many times when young people spread this, it seems to be for sensational or exciting purposes.

You find something that you think is cool, disgusting or startling and then you spread it, he says.

Serious consequences

The distribution of the material has consequences.

Young people who are convicted of child pornography offenses, for example, end up in the criminal record, which can make it difficult to get employment.

The investigations of tips that apply to this type of crime also take place, according to Björn Sellström, at the expense of other investigations.

- We want to invest our resources in finding children who are exposed to serious sexual abuse and the perpetrators behind these sexual assaults.

Not those who distribute the material without knowing what they are doing, he says.

"The legislator should look at it"

Björn Sellström, who believes that the current legislation has not kept up with developments, wants the legislator to open its eyes to the new phenomenon.

But he emphasizes the difficulty of the issue.

For example, it is not possible to say outright that a person has no sexual interest in the material just because it is young.

- That is exactly what makes this shift so delicate and not entirely easy to solve by, for example, just putting on a new crime.

But with that said, the legislator should start looking at and thinking about it, says Björn Sellström, commissioner at Noa.