Court acquits man who sent sexual messages to 14-year-old

Reykjavik District Court has acquitted a man accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl through Snapchat, finding it was not proven that he knew her age or was negligent about it, mbl.is reported.

The man was accused of repeatedly sending the girl sexual messages from February to May 2023 and arranging to meet her for sex or other sexual activity. The court found it was not proven that he had arranged a meeting with her. They never met.

The ruling was issued on October 14. The man said he believed the girl was 18 or 19 and ended their communication after a woman who knew her told him her age.

The girl said she had told the man her age during the first month of their exchanges. A friend also said she had seen a message disclosing the girl’s age. But the court noted inconsistencies in their accounts of the wording and timing of the message, and how the friend had learned about it. The message was not among the evidence provided to police, and there was no evidence confirming the girl’s claim that her birth year was visible on her Snapchat account.

The court also noted that the girl had never sent the man a picture of her face and that their exchanges were limited. It found the prosecution had not shown that he had particular reason to believe she was younger than he claimed to think.

The man did not dispute that he had exchanged sexual messages with the girl. Evidence included images of him accompanied by text describing sexual acts.