An 18-year-old man was jailed for two and a half years after threatening to hang several people he accused of pedophilia.
Now the Court of Appeal reduces his sentence by one year, reports the news agency Siren.
Last December, an 18-year-old man was arrested by the police after trying to extort money from several people.
It all started in a chat forum where the 18-year-old man pretended to be a 13-year-old girl. The man is said to have had two conversations with sexual content with two men.
The 18-year-old is said to have later confronted the people on separate occasions and accused them of pedophilia. When the 18-year-old confronted the first man, he allegedly filmed him and forced him to say that he sent “dickpics” to a 13-year-old. According to the verdict, the 18-year-old must have had a gun-like object with him.
The 18-year-old is said to have then forced the man to the police station to make a report, but once there the 18-year-old deviated.
Had gun-like object
A few days later, the 18-year-old went to the other man’s house, and since his daughter was at home, they took the call outside.
When the man’s daughter later left home, they went into the apartment and waited for the man’s wife to come home. Since the confrontation and the threats of hanging and extortion continued, the man’s wife has also become a plaintiff in the case.
According to the verdict, the 18-year-old must have been in the couple’s apartment for over an hour, and when he left he left a note with his account number. The following day, the confronted man filed a police report, and the 18-year-old was arrested the same day.
Reduces the penalty
In February, the 18-year-old was sentenced in Gävle district court to two years and six months in prison for attempted extortion, extortion and illegal threats. The district court also sentenced the 18-year-old to pay damages to four plaintiffs totaling just over SEK 160,000.
The sentence was appealed to the Court of Appeal, which now reduces the prison sentence to one year and six months. The Court of Appeal considers that the reduction was appropriate because one of the crimes has a penalty value of less than 1 year in prison.
The Court of Appeal also lowers the amount of damages that the man must pay, because it is considered that a reasonable compensation for violation does not amount to more than SEK 20,000 per plaintiff.