Prosecution suspects Peeter Helme of sexually enticing a minor
Former editor-in-chief of Postimees Peeter Helme is suspected of sexual enticement of a minor, Eesti Ekpress reports. The prosecution confirms proceedings but refuses to give any more details.
According to weekly Eesti Ekspress, Helme was arrested in November and released 20 hours later.
The North District Prosecutor's Office said that Peeter Helme was questioned the week before last but because suspicions of a crime constitute delicate personal information and the investigation is still underway, it will not be elaborating on the suspicions or nature of evidence at this time.
Helme told the paper that he visited the "Armastuse saal" chatroom where he said some lewd things. He said that he believed he was chatting with an adult. "A regular user has no way to verify how old the other person is," Helme explained.
Helme said he is willing to cooperate fully with the investigation and surrendered his computer and smartphone. "I can only guess they were looking for a case of pedophilia and stumbled on me, but I assure you once again – I have done nothing of the sort," he said.
Helme worked as the editor-in-chief of leading daily Postimees from April 3 to November 1. He resigned after the editorial staff at Postimees voiced lack of confidence in him.
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