COPENHAGEN: A former Danish government minister received a four-month prison sentence on Monday for possessing thousands of child sexual abuse images.
Henrik Sass Larsen, a former senior Social Democrat who served as industry minister, admitted to having over six thousand photographs and two thousand videos depicting child abuse on his computer.
He had initially denied the charges, claiming he possessed the material to investigate his own childhood abuse.
Prosecutor Maria Cingari expressed satisfaction with the verdict while noting the tragedy of someone with a difficult childhood finding themselves in such a situation.
Cingari emphasised that nobody should ever possess child pornography regardless of their reasons.
During his trial, the fifty-nine-year-old testified about receiving a link in 2018 to a fifty-year-old video showing his own sexual abuse at age three.
He stated that he received another video clip in 2020 showing a three-year-old girl being raped in his presence when he was approximately the same age.
Sass Larsen told the court both videos disappeared after he viewed them and expressed regret for not contacting police immediately.
The court acquitted him of additional charges relating to possession of a child sex doll.
His lawyer Berit Ernst indicated they would consider whether to appeal the verdict.
The scandal emerged last March and resulted in his expulsion from the Social Democratic party.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had previously expressed shock over the case when it became public. – AFP