Norwegian prosecutor takes out first Norwegian indictment for child sex trafficking abroad

A man has been indicted by Norwegian authorities for trafficking a child in another country for the first time.

The 47-year-old Oslo man, whose name was withheld, was indicted for finding a young boy in Thailand and then allowing pedophiles to abuse him, said Paal K. Loenseth, a national prosecutor, by telephone Wednesday. He said it was the first such case in Norway.

The suspect was also indicted for sexually abusing six other Thai children himself in 2004 and 2005, as well as photographing the abuse and publishing it on the Internet.

"We indicted the man for trafficking because in one case in Thailand he received a minor boy and turned him over to two of his acquaintances in a network. Those two abused the boy in the suspect's apartment in Thailand," said Loenseth.

Loenseth said police found about 35,000 photographs and 1,300 videos of child pornography, including about 300 believed produced by the man himself, in his home. He was arrested in April, just before his scheduled to return to Thailand.

The man, an airline employee, had an apartment in Thailand, and the state radio network NRK said he advertised sexual services by 10- to 12-year-old boys on the Internet.

The case is set to go to trial on May 8 and the man could face 21 years in prison if convicted.

Loenseth said the two men allowed to abuse the boy in the suspect's apartment were probably French and Australian, and that Norwegian case files had been sent to those countries for investigation.