Berliner Tageblatt - Verdict due for former Danish minister in child porn scandal

Henrik Sass Larsen, once a senior Social Democrat who served as industry minister in 2013-2015, has admitted he had more than 6,000 photographs and 2,000 videos on his computer depicting sexual abuse of children.

But he has denied the charges against him, saying the reason he had the material was to try to find out who had abused him when he was a child.

"He was looking for material of himself as a child," his lawyer Berit Ernst told AFP.

During his trial, the 59-year-old told the court he had received a link in 2018 to a 50-year-old video showing him being sexually abused when he was three years old.

He testified that he received another video clip in 2020, in which a three-year-old girl was raped in his presence when he was around the same age.

The two videos disappeared after he viewed them, he said.

But he was determined to find them to identify the perpetrators, a search which led him to some of the darkest sites on the internet, he claimed.

He told the court he regretted not having contacted police when he received the videos.

Speaking to AFP, his lawyer said "the big question is whether he is punishable for being in possession of this kind of material even if it was to look for information about himself".

Sass Larsen is also accused of being in possession of a child sex doll, photos of which were shown in court.

He testified that he did not buy it but he received it as a free gift with an online purchase from China.

The court was to hear final arguments on Monday and render its verdict later in the day.

Sass Larsen risks up to a year in prison if convicted.

The scandal came to light last March and led to his expulsion from the Social Democratic party.

At the time, Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed her shock over the case.

Sass Larsen's lawyer said her client "was eager for this all to be over with".

O.Bulka--BTB