Case summary A total of five men have been convicted of assaulting a minor girl after the discovery of old diaries. The assault is said to have happened around twenty years ago when the woman was under 16. The diaries depict sexual relations with older men, and were found again when the woman helped her mother move. Three of the men have been sentenced to 90 days in prison on terms and must pay the woman NOK 50,000 each in compensation. Two men have previously received confessions for having had sexual intercourse with the victim before the age of 16. The woman has previously made up a story about an abusive rape, but this has not weakened the credibility of her explanation in court. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. The old diaries are similar to those kept by young girls at the time. Lists of handsome boys one is in love with, knick-knacks and descriptions of thoughts and feelings in adolescence. But the contents of the diaries of a woman from a town in Western Norway have led to a total of five men now being convicted of assaults that should have happened around twenty years ago. At the time, the woman was under the age of sexual maturity. The men have been convicted of sexual intercourse with a minor. The assault must have occurred at different times, and not together. Two of the five men have confessed. Depict sexual intercourse with older boys In her diaries she had written about sexual intercourse with various men in autumn 2004. All were a good deal older than she was at the time. There were three complete diaries that were presented as evidence in court, in addition to extensive testimony. Photo: Privat The eldest was 16 years older than her. Among other things, she wrote that she was “dead in love” with him. “Damn he’s delicious.” “Today I was with him. He picked me up. Shall sleep with him.” The woman describes a romantic relationship with the man and wrote about several sexual acts with him. They must have made contact through mutual acquaintances. – Today she sees that she had a need to be seen after she had been ostracized in the classroom environment after the first assaults. The victim was 15 when the abuse happened, and at the time she was not aware that it was a criminal offense for adults to have sex with children under the age of 16, says public prosecutor Hege Salomon. – The man is convinced that the sentence is wrong and that he has not done what he has been sentenced for, says the man’s defender, Louis Anda. Found the books when she was cleaning When she was going to help her mother move a couple of years ago, she found the diaries and read what was in them. As she was under 16 when the incidents allegedly took place, it is considered abuse, even if force or coercion was not necessarily used. After advice from the NOK.-centre, contact the legal aid lawyer and the police. – It got to a point where she decided to stand up for herself and deal with what happened to her in her youth, says Salomon. Hege Salomon represents the offended woman. They think the verdict is well founded. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB Research has shown that many who have been exposed to sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence take as long as 17 years before they tell about it. Salomon says that the woman is resourceful, but is struggling with psychological after-effects after what happened in her youth. – Why report so long afterwards? – One often feels guilt and shame, and is perhaps afraid of not being believed. This has also been the case for my client. Two denied, one not remembered After the discovery of the diaries, several relationships were reported, but some were dismissed for various reasons. Last week, three men in their 40s and 50s were served the sentence in Sogn og Fjordane district court. They were sentenced to 90 days in prison under conditions for breach of section 196 of the Criminal Code. They must also pay the woman NOK 50,000 each in compensation. In court, two of them denied having had sexual intercourse with the girl, while the third could not think about it. Lawyer Louis Anda defends the man who is 16 years older than the woman. Together with the defense attorneys for the other defendants, they are considering appealing the verdict, but have not decided. The appeal deadline expires on 13 October. Defends one of the condemned men, Louis Anda. Photo: Øyvind Torvund – We think the sentence is wrong, but it is a question of whether my client can bear the burden one more time in view of the stigmatization he already experiences in a small local environment, says Anda. The woman’s lawyer says they are satisfied with the verdict. – Regardless of the outcome of the case, my impression is that she is happy that she finally stood up for herself and told about the abuse, and that she was taken seriously in the legal process, says Salomon. Police prosecutor Sissel Kleiven will not comment on the case until the verdict is final. news has not been able to make direct contact with the lawyers Ivar Blikra and Manal Himmich, who are defending the other two men. Party environment with young girls and older boys Central to the evidence was the content of the diaries. The court emphasized that what is written there fixes the events in time and that it corresponds to what the witness told. One of the witnesses in the case has explained about an environment with parties, alcohol, young girls and older boys. The witness herself was in love with one of the now convicted men at the time. Expert in criminal law, Jørn Jacobsen, says it is not unusual that in cases far back in time, documents become important evidence. Photo: University of Bergen Jørn Jacobsen is an expert in criminal law. He says the presentation of evidence in criminal cases is basically free, that the parties can present the evidence they want to shed light on the case. – In cases that lie far back in time, there will often be documents and the like from that time that must be assessed. – But it is therefore only a matter of one piece of evidence, and the court must feel convinced that the abuse took place, he says. History of rape The woman herself has explained that beyond the autumn of 2004 she faced major challenges with her mental health and her parents were in despair. She was unable to tell them what actually happened to her. Therefore, she made up a story about an abusive rape. This was reported to the police. When the woman contacted the police two years ago after the diaries were found, she said that this earlier story was made up. The court has assessed that the credibility of the woman’s statement is not weakened because of this. Hi!Thank you for reading the whole story. Did you think of anything in particular when you were reading? Or do you have tips for other things I should look at? Feel free to read some of what I have written about previously: Published 26.09.2024, at 16.33
ttn-69
Five men convicted of assaulting a minor girl after finding old diaries – news Vestland
