Sexploitation and Bestiality

by M Jenny Edwards

The Internet has dramatically changed the criminal landscape to onethat is global instead of local, and current laws are lagging behind. Swedish prosecutorshope to change that.

Sweden

Bjorn Samstrom met the girls through social media sites and then flattered them during online chats to gain their trust. At some point, he began to threaten hisvictims by saying he knew where they lived and would rape them or kill their familiesunless they performed sex acts for him in front of a webcam. 

Eighteen of the 27 victims have been identified including two 13-year-old girls in Canada. A 14-year-old American girl was told to penetrate herself with fingers and objects, and carrry out sex acts involving a dog. During a Skype video chat, Sanstrom told the girl he knew shere she lived, and threatened to kill her family unless she did what he asked. 

Samstrom is being charged with "gross rape" and other offenses under Swedish law. Prosecutor Annika Wennerström said the case will really challenge the current definition of rape explaining, "It's only the sexual predator's imagination that sets the limits. The technology knows no limits, so we have to adapt our mindset ...  These are real crimes [using] a virtual tool." 

Canada

In an eerily similar 2008 case in Canada, Mark Gary Bedford hacked into social media accounts of 40 young girls aged 9 to 15 in England, the US, Mexico, France, and Canada. Bedford, then 23, would masquerade as one of the girls’ friends, and persuaded the girls to expose themselves. He would then use those images to coerce them into performing more explicit acts. He convinced one 12-year-old girl to have sex with the family dog. He convinced others to insert objects like a comb or pencil into their vaginas, and threatened to kill them or their families if they did not comply.

Canadian authorities sentenced Bedford to three years in prison for luring over the internet, inciting a child to commit bestiality, extortion, and other charges related to child pornography. He was not charged with sexual assault or sexual interference.


South Wales

In 1997, Ian Watkins was the lead singer of an alternative rock band called the Lostprophets that sold millions of albums worldwide. But the band split in 2012 after it was discovered that Watkins had conspired with two mothers to rape a baby and two other children. Watkins filmed and kept footage of sexual abuse including bestiality. Two women were also convicted for conspiring with Watkins to provide their children for his sexual pleasure. 

Despite the severity of charges, several loyal female fans showed up at the hearings and continued to stay in touch with Watkins after he was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013.

In December, 2016 it was reported that from his prison cell, Watkins has been grooming a 21-year-old woman who has a 2-year-old daughter. The woman has been a fan of Watkins since she was 16 and has been visiting Watkins in prison. The child has been removed from the home, and the woman’s laptop and cellphone were seized. It is unclear whether additional charges will be filed against either Watkins or the woman.


London, UK

A 28-year-old geophysicist at Birmingham University in Central England, was arrested for blackmailing more than 50 victims ranging in age from their early teens to their 30’s. Dr. Matthew Falder, 28 posed as a female artist and tricked them into sending him images that became more perverse over time. Falder would then blackmail them, threatening exposure, in order to obtain extreme images involving torture, sadism, and bestiality, which he then posted on the dark web. Falder has pleaded guilty to 137 charges, including encouraging the rape of a 4 year-old boy.


The Internet Effect

The Internet has dramatically changed how crimes are committed as well as investigated. As sexploitation become more common, our laws will need to adapt and change.