OSLO, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A 40-year-old man in Norway was charged for online sexual offense against 263 children aged between nine and 16, public broadcaster NRK reported Tuesday.
The man from Romerike in southern Norway has acknowledged guilt and the final indictment is expected to be ready in spring, said state prosecutor Carl Graff Hartmann.
Most of the victims, 220 of which Norwegian, are boys, whom the man had contacted through the chat programs Skype and Omegle.
The man did not meet with any of the victims, even though meetings were discussed with the children, the report said.
"The boys thought that they were talking to a girl who was one or two years older than them. The accused has been very good at using youth language," Anette Holt Tonsberg, coordinating assistance lawyer in the case, told NRK.
According to Tonsberg, some of the victims have rather forgotten the offense and find it stressful to be part of a police case, while others are very affected, with suicidal thoughts and difficulties in everyday life.
The case started with the mother of a 10-year-old boy from Trondelag in November 2017 hearing a girl's voice in his bedroom after bedtime.
"I went in and discovered that he was having a video call on his phone. He told about Stine of 15 to 16 years of age, who had several relationships in Norway. However, her camera was broken, so only my son was filmed," the mother told NRK.
Police tracked the person at the other end to Romerike, where the man in his 40s was arrested in January 2018 and has since been in custody.
According to the man's lawyer Gard A. Lier, "he is relieved to have been arrested because he wanted out of this."
He has asked for help in prison, Lier said.
