Swedish judge admits soliciting prostitutes

A Swedish judge who admitted soliciting prostitutes at a brothel was fired by a disciplinary board Thursday.

Mats Persson, who served on the Trelleborg District Court in southern Sweden, was fined in June after admitting to trying to buy sex from three prostitutes at an illegal brothel made to look like a tanning salon.

The National Disciplinary Offense Board, which oversees high-ranking public officials, said Persson has "seriously damaged the public's trust for the courts and justices," and that he will be fired immediately.

It is the third such case to rattle the country's legal system in little more than a year. In May, a Supreme Court judge was fined after admitting he solicited a male prostitute, but was allowed to keep his job. And last year, a judge on the Malmo District Court went into early retirement after admitting he bought sex from a prostitute.

Buying sexual favors is illegal in Sweden, although it is legal to sell them.

In the latest case, the judge solicited sex during a phone call to the salon in Malmo, Sweden's third largest city, but the purchase was not completed because he was unable to get to the salon before closing time, prosecutors said.