Former Conservative (Høyre) politician Tor Johannes Helleland was sentenced to two months in prison on Thursday over computer hacking charges. The 23-year-old broke into the email and online storage accounts of 32 women, downloaded private intimate photographs, and spread them on pornography websites.
Helleland was a Drammen city council representative when the scandal emerged in July last year. Newspaper VG reported he had breached the women’s email and iCloud accounts, stolen photographs showing various degrees of nudity and sexual activity, and spread them online without consent. He resigned from his council position and issued an apology to his victims after he was discovered, many of them members of the Conservative’s youth organization.
He was given a stricter sentence than the 36 days prosecutors requested, reported Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). The court ruled a strong deterrent message was necessary to combat the growing problem of cyber crime. Thirty days of Helleland’s two month sentence were suspended, and he was given a two year probation period.
“Helleland has stood firm on his unreserved confession the whole time, and has been upset over what he has inflicted on his victims,” said his lawyer Anders Green. “He has taken note of the judgment and we will accept the sentence as the Drammen court has determined.”
His family has a long history in politics with Høyre. His father Trond and step mother Linda H Helleland are both members of parliament. His mother Jannike Thorsen is also a Drammen council politician.
newsinenglish.no/Emily Woodgate
