Swedish pastor got caught for paedophilia
A man typing in his keyboard. A Swedish pastor is accused of inviting minors for a sex date in the basement of the church. Photo AFP, Saul Loeb
Northern Europe
A Swedish pastor is being accused of sending explicit sexual messages to children and trying to get a meeting with them for sexual purposes. The parish is devastated.
Two police reports are currently being filed, Dagen writes. One by two children who say the pastor contacted them with sexual messages, and one by two adults who exposed the pastor.
The case started when the Swedish minister invited a 14-year-old boy to the basement of his church for a sex date. Little did he know that he was walking right into a trap of two adults keen on finding and condemning paedophiles in public.
Basement
Earlier, the pastor from the Equmenia church had indicated on a chat that he was looking for sex, Dagen reports. In addition, he shared nude pictures of himself and invited the boy for a meeting in the basement, where, he said, he had had similar meetings before.
However, when the actual meeting was to take place, the pastor was confronted by two so-called paedophile hunters. These people pretend to be teenagers online with the goal of catching paedophiles red-handed. They video these encounters and publish them online.
As soon as the pastor notices that the appointment does not go as he expected, he runs away.
However, since the video was published, two more children reported that the pastor had contacted them for sexual purposes.
Crime
The parish where the pastor served is devastated by the news. The chairman of the assembly calls it a disaster. "The news went down like a bomb; no one was close enough to suspect anything", he tells Dagen. He stresses that the publication is not the problem but the seriousness of the crime of which the pastor is accused.
The congregation has experienced many negative comments on Facebook and question the legality of the church.
According to the chairman, the pastor was the only employed minister of the congregation because it is quite small. "It is a tragedy for the congregation, for the family and for himself. If the content is true, he can never work as a pastor again."
Title
After the publication appeared, the church responded swiftly. They immediately released the pastor from work and are currently considering what other measures should be taken to limit the damage.
George Olvic, head of communications of the Equmenia denomination, says that the national board is now busy considering whether the pastor can keep his title. At the same time, he stresses that the allegations have not officially been proven yet and that the investigation is ongoing. "We must take this into account and not make hasty decisions. It's easy when everyone is screaming to hang him, but we have to be a little careful."
Currently, the church leadership will investigate who the pastor has met and who he was with. "Perhaps there are children he has been with, and there may have been irregularities. It is a very important work to follow up on. We have also checked with his former employer, that process has also started."
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