MALMO, Sweden - A Swedish footballer has been charged with sexual exploitation of a minor after admitting to having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Malmo FF says its Sweden Under-21 defender Miiko Albornoz has agreed to take a "timeout" from the club in light of the incident.

Prosecutor Ulrika Rogland says the 22-year-old Albornoz, who was arrested in November, has confessed. Rogland says the girl wasn't subjected to violence or coercion and that the charges are based on the fact that she was 14 and he was significantly older. The age of consent is 15 in Sweden.

Albornoz is regretful but doesn't believe he has committed a crime, his lawyer Jan-Anders Hybelius told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

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