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Finnish TV presenter imprisoned for video voyeurism

Xinhua, March 1, 2017 Adjust font size:

A famous TV presenter in Finland was sentenced to one year and two months in prison for secretly videotaping sex acts on Tuesday, media reported.

Axl Smith, a 32-year-old TV host and entertainer, was found guilty of 30 counts of video voyeurism, four cases of defamation and two cases of breach of privacy.

The Helsinki District Court decided to give him a 14-month prison sentence, said Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.

The defendant was ordered to pay 100,000 euros (106,000 U.S. dollars) of compensation to the victims for their suffering, psychological disturbances and temporary loss of income.

He has to pay over 50,000 euros of legal costs as well, according to the daily.

The crimes occurred during the period from 2014 to 2016. Smith was accused of using hidden cameras in his bedroom to record sex acts. He recorded hundreds of such videos, and sharing some of the salacious video clips on WhatsApp messenger. There were 29 victims in total, who were all young women.

Born in 1984, Axl Smith has worked as a presenter for the MTV Nordic music channel and other TV shows, including the Voice of Finland. He has performed as a singer and musician, and also served as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

Smith resigned from the Voice of Finland and from his UNICEF duties after police started to investigate the case in March 2016. (1 euro=1.06 U.S. dollar) Endit