Pedophile spread child pornography from psychiatric clinic in Sweden

A convicted pedophile used his cell phone to spread child pornography on the Internet from a psychiatric clinic in Sweden, authorities said Monday.

Prosecutor Lars Jeppsson said the man, who was not identified, had hidden a computer hard-drive inside a stereo in his room, and then used his cell phone's Internet connection to receive and distribute thousands of illegal images to other people.

The hard-drive was confiscated in February after police discovered the man's activities by monitoring child pornography traffic online, Jeppsson said.

Thomas Dahlen, head of the psychiatric clinic in Vaxjo, said the man had been treated there for more than five years, after a court convicted him of sexually abusing children. The court ruled that the man is seriously mentally ill, which means he cannot be sentenced to prison under Swedish law, the AP reports.

"He is incredibly technically skilled," Dahlen said. "He lied and deceived us, and the equipment he used was hidden in a very clever way."

Dahlen said the clinic prohibits patients from using computers to log on to the Internet, but Swedish law makes it illegal to confiscate their cell phones.

"It's a rule rather than an exception that patients have one or two cell phones. They can use them to plan new crimes, or to threaten people," he said, calling for a change in the law.

The man will be charged under Swedish child pornography laws, but if he is convicted, he would likely receive another sentence for psychiatric care, Dahlen said.