The National Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday that it had wrapped up a preliminary investigation into a series of child sex abuse cases involving 22 victims.
The NBI said in a statement on Tuesday that it had remanded a 41-year-old Jyväskylä resident into custody in connection with the case. Investigators said that the offences involved the use of social media but did not name the platforms the man used. The suspected offences allegedly occurred between 2018 and 2020.
Police said that back in 2018, they received several leads about the suspected sexual abuse and began investigating the case in autumn 2019. In October police detained the man as the main suspect in the case. He was released in December and taken into custody once more in mid-April.
"No physical intercourse was suspected in the offences, nor are other persons under suspicion. The case involves the so-called 'grooming' phenomenon, which means approaching children online with sexual intentions," lead investigator Sanna Springare said in the statement.
The NBI said that investigators cooperated with local police in Jyväskylä and that the case has now been referred to prosecutors in western Finland for consideration of charges.