The Finnish government said Thursday it was drafting a bill making it a crime to organise a meeting with a child provided clear sexual intent was proved.

The government also wants to give the police the power to use assumed identities in order to hunt suspected online paedophiles.

Under Finland's existing paedophile laws it is a crime to make sexual propositions to children on the internet.
But under the draft law the mere suggestion of meeting a child, without explicit sexual allusions having been made, would be outlawed.

"If a person has for example booked a hotel room for a meeting or travelled a long way to meet a child, that person must be able to prove that the meeting had some other purpose," said Mirja Salonen, a justice ministry civil servant involved in the drafting of the bill.

Some European countries already have legislation in force against "grooming" for sex by paedophiles.
If passed into law the draft bill would give the Finnish police powers to infiltrate suspected paedophile and child pornography rings.

The government hopes to have the piece of legislation in force by the beginning of next year.

STT