– I get very angry and very scared. That’s what “Erik” says. – Both on behalf of my own daughter, and really on behalf of all young people who are in institutions. His daughter part of a grim statistic. For her sake, he wishes to remain anonymous. A former employee at the child welfare institution where she lives is accused of trying to rape her on a car trip. But she is not alone. In the last five years, there have been at least 33 reports of sexual abuse carried out by staff against children in child welfare institutions. 21 of the cases have been reported to the police. These are figures that news has collected, which no one has seen before. Fear and disbelief “Erik” reacted strongly when he first learned what had happened. – Fear and disbelief are probably the first words that pop into my head, he says. A former employee at the Fossum collective is charged with sexual assault against his daughter and four other girls between the ages of 14 and 16. One of the girls took her own life shortly afterwards. Her name was Madelen Nesby and she was only 14 years old, VG could tell at the weekend. Madel and “Erik’s” daughter were very close. – They called each other sisters. And I found that they were a tremendous support for each other in everyday life and in the treatment. Photo: John-André Samuelsen / news The man is in his mid-50s. He is charged with sexual intercourse with children under the age of 16, attempted rape and sexually offensive behaviour. In September, he wrote in a text message to news that he is innocent and that he denies criminal guilt. The case will come up in Mysen district court in March 2025. East police district began investigating the case in January this year. According to the indictment, the assaults must have taken place in the autumn and winter of 2023. The case will be heard in the Mysen district court. Photo: news “The system is fucked up” In the documentary project “Instukids”, news spoke to 100 children and young people about life in Norwegian child welfare institutions. In these conversations, we were told several times, completely unsolicited, stories about employees who have exposed children to sexual abuse at the institutions. Among other things, one girl said: “At the first clinic I was sexually abused by an employee for several months. Since he eventually raped me, I told other employees who reported him, but it was dropped.” news has not verified the information. The girl has approved that what she says is reproduced. Furthermore, she says: “A few months later, I was so angry at what he had done so I went to him to break his window and I was punished for it … the system is fucked up…” Abuse by news employees has long tried to get an overview of how often children are exposed to sexual abuse by employees in child welfare institutions. It has been difficult. When we began the investigations, several government officials claimed that abuse inside institutions rarely happened. They agreed that many were subjected to abuse outside the institution in pursuit of drugs, but not by staff working to look after the most vulnerable children. That would turn out to be wrong. Lack of overview Last year, just under 1,000 children lived in Norwegian child welfare institutions. In the event of serious incidents at a child protection institution, such as abuse, the State Administrator must always be notified. They are the institutions’ supervisory authority. That is why news has sent access requests to state administrators throughout the country. We have asked to see reported alerts, or suspicions, that employees have committed: sexual assault rape sexual harassment and/or sexual exploitation Several state administrators say they lack an overview and that what news is looking for is time-consuming and difficult to find. It took three months before all the State Administrators found what we asked for. There were a total of 33 notifications. These are cases that were found when the case manager was searching, or that they remember from the last five years. Most male employees and girls The reports come from their own supervisors, the child welfare institutions themselves, the police, anonymous tips and from young people at the institution. news does not know the content of all the notifications. In most cases, news has only received an overview of the number of notifications, year, gender and whether the case has been reported to the police or not. A typical response looks like this: “All the notifications have dealt with suspected incidents or relationships of a transgressive sexual nature, committed by male employees towards girls who are or have been placed in an institution. The incidents have been reported to the police and the employee has been suspended.” It is the most girls who have been exposed, and the most male employees who have been notified. “Pedophiles at the youth home” In some of the notifications, news has been able to see large parts of the content. These are cases of sexual abuse, or warnings that the employees have crossed the children’s boundaries. In 2019, a young person at an institution wrote to the State Administrator: “I believe that, in principle, an adult should know better than to stroke and squeeze the leg of a young person and otherwise touch places on a young person’s body where you would call them “sensitive zones” » and where most people think is inappropriate. In another alert, it was the police who responded after a visit to a child protection institution. They wrote: “Then the victim stated that there were pedophiles working at the youth home who molested young people. The person himself had been sent for. The police spoke to an employee afterwards who said she knew that it had been reported by a couple of young people and that it had been reported to management.” Often dark numbers In the event of serious incidents, the Directorate for Children and Families (Bufdir) must also be notified. When news got in touch to ask how many notifications they had received, the answer was significantly lower than 33. Bufdir could only count 18. They also lacked figures for 2019. According to news’s investigations, at least 6 alerts were received this year. Bufdir’s figure therefore does not match the 33 notifications news has seen. – This may be because we do not have a registration practice that is good enough. It may also be because the State Administrator receives notifications through other channels than what we receive, says divisional director Jan Kato Fremstad. He emphasizes that they take this type of matter very seriously. – And even if there should now be errors in our registrations, it is not the same as children who are exposed to sexual abuse not receiving proper and good follow-up, he says. Jan Kato Fremstad, division director in Bufdir, says they will follow up with the State Administrators about the background and the reason why they do not have the same number of notifications. Photo: John-André Samuelsen / news Fremstad says that the number of notifications probably does not give a complete picture anyway. – We know that when it comes to suspicion or abuse of young people, it is often a dark story. It is demanding to capture all cases, he says. – What is important to us is that we follow up the routines we have in practice. This is what is decisive for us to be able to avoid serious incidents. Bufdir has asked all its regions to carry out a separate risk analysis linked to the risk of sexual abuse at the institution, says Fremstad. Photo: John-André Samuelsen / news Managed to resist For “Erik” and his daughter, the damage has already been done. She has experienced a serious trauma and lost a close friend. – It is very easy to imagine pictures, because she has described how it happened. And then you are left with a feeling that I should have been there. And she definitely shouldn’t have been there. “Erik” clings to bright spots. – Fortunately, my daughter managed to put up enough resistance that he did not finish, as far as I know. But not everyone can do that. Photo: John-André Samuelsen / news Hi! Do you have any tips or thoughts after reading this case? Feel free to send me an e-mail. Previously, I worked with the documentary project Instukids, which shows how children and young people become addicted to drugs and exposed to abuse while living in Norwegian child welfare institutions. Published 02.12.2024, at 07.41
ttn-69
Abuse, rape and harassment of children – Greater Oslo
