Man convicted for teen sex when he was 16

A young man in western Sweden has been convicted of sexual exploitation and told to go undergo treatment after having sex with a 14-year-old girl when he himself was 16.

The man from Skaraborg on Sweden's west coast, who is now 20, admitted that he had sex with the girl on several occasions but denied it was a criminal offence. He argued in the district court that when the intercourse took place in 2010, the age difference between the two seemed insignificant. In Sweden the legal age of consent is 15 years old.

However, his argument didn't stand up in court, where he was convicted for having had sex with a minor and put on probation on a charge of sexual exploitation according to the Skövde Nyheter newspaper.

The district court said it was clear the man had sexual relations with the girl and told him to undergo treatment. He was also ordered to pay 5,000 kronor ($770) in damages to the girl.

source: Article 'Man convicted for teen sex when he was 16'; www.thelocal.se/20131206/teen-16-convicted-for-sex-with-14-year-old; The Local; 6 December 2013