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The Tallinn-based Harju regional court on Friday handed down a four-year jail sentence to Toomas Meola, former well-known journalist and PR man, for sexual offenses directed against minors.
Estonian court hands 4-year sentence to repeat pedophile sex offender
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Meola was previously sentenced to three years and four months in jail for pedophilia related offenses in 2006 and released in December 2008 before serving his full term.
In the sentence announced on Friday after a trial held behind closed doors, Meola, formerly known as Toomas H. Liiv, was found guilty of possession, transfer and making available in another manner of child pornography and involvement of a person younger than 14 in the satisfaction of sexual desire in a manner other than intercourse. The sentence is counted from Oct. 30 last year, the day Meola was arrested.
Besides the court ordered 8,700 euros, 300 U.S. dollars and 100 Swedish kronor to be confiscated from Meola.
Maola partially admitted his guilt.
According to the statement of charges, Meola bought, sold and exchanged via user accounts on different websites books, photographs, magazines and calendars depicting persons younger than 18 years of age in a pornographic situation and persons younger than 14 in an erotic or pornographic situation. Besides Meola was accused of involving a kid under 14 years of age in the satisfaction of sexual desire in a manner other than intercourse on repeated occasions.
The previous sentence for a criminal offense given to Meola, then Toomas H. Liiv, was for mistreatment of minors, satisfaction of sexual desire by violence with minors and making of pornographic images and movies of minors. According to the indictment of 2006, Liiv beat and took sexual advantage of 9-12-year old boys, took erotic photos of them and kept child pornography at his home.
The sentence of five years in jail was announced in December 2006. As one third of the punishment was deducted as part of the plea bargain deal, and the defendant had already been under arrest for nearly seven months, he had about two years and nine months to serve. In November 2008 the Tartu county court decided in favor of Meola's early release, which happened in December the same year.
Liiv was a prominent journalist in Estonia in the 1990s, publishing interviews with numerous people of world renown. He was also active in public relations for many years.