A manager at Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT has been caught trying to “buy” the virginity of a 14-year-old girl in a newspaper sting, claiming when caught that he was trying to save the girl.
The unnamed man met the girl on a website called “sugar daters” and offered to pay the 14-year-old 9,000 Swedish kronor, or £840, to be the first person to have sex with her when she turned 15. After the incident was revealed the public broadcaster released a statement indicating that the man had been immediately fired, Expressen reports.
The fictional 14-year-old named “Linnea” was actually Expressen TV programme manager Lisah Silfwer who manages the television programme “Crime Centre.”
During the chats, the man asked, “Are you a virgin?” and after receiving a yes said, “I can pay for it.”
Ms Silfwer then arranged a meeting with the man and confronted him regarding his statements. He claimed that he was trying to, “make sure there’s nothing happening since she’s 14 years old.” He added, “It was never a matter of buying sex.”
Police say the website, which is advertised as a way for men to “pamper” women with money and gifts, is linked to human trafficking.
Investigator of Human Trafficking at the National Operational Department (Noa) Simon Häggström said, “This is pure prostitution. We, from the police side, want to alert and warn that it’s very easy for underage girls to join these sites.”
“All cases we have checked in…