Man Uses Porn to Bilk Church

ST. OLAV, Norway — The Inner Norwegian Seamen's Church was originally established to secure the moral and religious education of Scandinavian seafarers, but also to give them a “breathing room” where a fellow countryman was available to lend an ear and give some attention.

Porn wasn’t the kind of attention they had in mind, however.

Banking on their good faith in his abilities, a Norwegian webmaster recently charged the Seamen’s Church nearly $13,000 to remove pornography that suddenly appeared on the church’s official website.

Problem is, he’s the one who put it there.

The 39-year-old, who was not named by local officials, originally created the site for the church in September. When pornographic content was found on the site he offered to remove it, but church officials became skeptical when he claimed hackers had infested the site beyond repair and that the $13,000 was merely a deposit to glean the holy pages of smut.

An investigation by local law enforcement discovered the porn had originated from the webmaster’s home computer, according to local press reports.

As a result, the webmaster was sentenced to five months in prison Friday and ordered to pay back the money to the church.

Copyright © 2026 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Italian Court in Aylo Case Limits International Reach of AV Rules

An Italian administrative court has ruled that Italy’s recently-enacted age verification rules for adult content may not currently be enforced against sites based in other EU member states, pending further procedural action under the EU’s Directive on Electronic Commerce.

OCC, FDIC Prohibit Use of 'Reputation Risk' by Regulators

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Tuesday issued a final rule codifying the elimination of ‘reputation risk’ from their supervision of financial institutions.

Wisconsin Governor Vetoes Age Verification Bill

Gov. Tony Evers on Friday vetoed AB 105, an age verification bill that would have allowed anyone to sue adult content providers for damages over alleged failure to age-verify users in Wisconsin, with penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.

FSC Releases Statement on Wisconsin Governor Vetoing AV Bill

The Free Speech Coalition has released a statement on Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers' veto of the state's age verification legislation.

AV Bulletin: West Virginia Enacts AV Law, Ohio 'Innocence Act' Advances

This roundup provides an update on the latest news and developments on the age verification front as it impacts the adult industry.

Woodhull Survey Reveals Concern Among Sex Educators Over AV Laws' Impact on Access

A national survey of sex educators by the Woodhull Freedom Foundation found that a majority of sex educators and sexual health professionals are concerned that age verification (AV) laws will negatively impact access to information and resources.

Clips4Sale Wins Trademark Infringement Case Against Fraudulent Domain

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has ruled in favor of content platform Clips4Sale in a case against a website using a similar domain to impersonate the site.

FSC Talks Age Verification on Capitol Hill

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has published a blog post detailing the organization's talks on age verification on Capitol Hill in Washington.

FTC Warns PayPal, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard Against Debanking

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent letters on Thursday to the CEOs of PayPal, Stripe, Visa and Mastercard, warning them against debanking practices — including denying customers access to services based on lawful business activities perceived as high-risk.

Show More