– I think that we as a society have failed both weasel brother, big brother and weasel sister. Although the children have not told so much verbally, they have told in other ways. That’s what a representative from child protection said when she testified in Hordaland District Court on Monday. – I hope that doctors, health centres, family welfare centres, BUP and, not least, child protection can learn from this. Four adults from the same neighborhood are accused of gross rape of children. A pair of parents and their eldest son are accused of assaulting the two youngest children in the family, a boy and a girl. Their neighbour, a man in his 30s, is also accused of assaulting the girl. In addition, he is accused of assaulting his own son. All three children were under 10 years old when the abuse started. Over a hundred witnesses The trial has lasted five weeks. The court spent the first three weeks looking through all the prepared hearings that had been done with the three offended children. Then the defendants started their explanations. While the children explain that the adults have carried out gross abuse, the adults say that none of this has happened. Now the court will have to hear over a hundred witnesses, and first up is child protection. Over a hundred people will testify in the abuse case. Photo: Maria Gunnarsdotter Svedal / news The representative who witnessed has been involved in the cases of all three who offended the children. – When abuse happens as an everyday thing, it becomes normal for the children, she said. She pointed out that it took a long time for the children to understand that not all children experienced such things at home. – I have become fond of these children, and I would do anything for them to have a different upbringing than they have had, she said. These are the offended parties in the case Gut – son in the family. Guten is said to have been subjected to sexual abuse for several years by his father, mother and older brother. The abuse must have started when the boy was under 10 years old. Girl – daughter in the family The girl is said to have been subjected to sexual abuse for several years by her mother, father, older brother and the father next door. The abuse must have started when she was around one year old. Boy – neighbor of the other two victims and son of the neighboring father The boy is said to have been subjected to abuse by his own father. The abuse is said to have started when he was under ten years old and to have continued for about a year. Three reports of concern In this case, there have been a total of three reports of concern to child protection. The first notice came in 2018. That year, the father in the family was sentenced to prison for downloading and storing abuse material. The report of concern to the child protection agency was about allegations that the children had brought other children. Among other things, one of the children is said to have said “When mum is late for work, I have to undress dad”. Some time after serving his sentence, the father moved back home to his wife and two youngest children. In the autumn of 2020, child protection received two new reports of concern. These expressed concern about the relationship between the neighbor and the daughter in the family. The reporter thought it was unpleasant to watch the close relationship. That led to the ball starting to roll: Child welfare notified the police and the neighbor was arrested in autumn 2020. In 2021 the parents were arrested and in 2023 their eldest son. This is how the case unfolded In autumn 2020, the “neighbour”, a man in his 30s, was arrested. Child protection had then received three reports of concern. Two of them expressed concern about the relationship between the neighbor and the daughter in the family. They were observed on a playground and in a pool, and the reporter said that it was unpleasant to see the relationship the man had with the girl. Another report of concern concerned claims the children had brought with other children. Among other things, one of the children is said to have said “When mum is late for work, I have to undress dad”. During the investigation of the neighbour, the police became interested in the parents in his neighbourhood. The man in his 50s was arrested in the summer of 2021, the woman in her 40s in September of the same year. The neighbour, mother and father were charged in December 2022. Later, their eldest son, the “big brother”, was also involved. In February this year, he was taken into custody and charged in the same case. All four are charged with aggravated rape of children under the age of 14. It carries a penalty of 21 years in prison. In the indictment, it appears that the public prosecutor will consider asking for detention when it concerns the father in the family. On 28 August 2023, the case started in Hordaland district court. According to the plan, she will last for ten weeks. When the neighbor was arrested, the girl was taken out of the home. The child protection representative was then involved in family gatherings several times a week. She says that, among other things, she reacted to how the father lifted the girl and carried her around. – He knows that she is talking about abuse by the neighbour. I think you might want to be careful with how you hold her body, she said, and pointed out, among other things, that the father held his arm between the girl’s legs. The employee describes that she was welcomed at home, but still feels that something is not right. – I don’t see violence, I don’t see abuse and I don’t see drugs, but I still get worried. She portrays parents who see no boundaries for their children, who do not comfort them and who do not meet them emotionally. – Parents often say that they are such good parents – that they are actually better than 70% of those who live in the municipality. I never get a hold of who they got this speech from. She told the court that the sum of everything she observes makes her more and more uneasy. Mother, father, older brother and neighbor sit together with their defense lawyers on the dock. Photo: Ane Hem I think the children may have been influenced The defenders of the accused believe that the police and child protection have had an unnatural number of conversations with the children, and that they have arranged for the children to be together. – This makes me think the children may have been influenced ahead of the hearing, says Alexander Sele, who defends the older brother. The representative from child protection was clear that she has not done anything to influence the children. – I have nothing to gain from this. I have no interest in influencing the children to tell untruths about their family. And I wouldn’t be able to do it either – these children are loyal. The three victims have been interrogated nine, twelve and fifteen times respectively. This amounts to 50 hours of hearings that the court has seen through. In addition, recordings made by child welfare services of conversations with the children must be played. Children’s welfare asked to be investigated Children’s welfare asked to be investigated itself as both the neighbor and the parents were accused. This winter, the State Administrator opened a supervisory case regarding their handling of the case, as they requested. – It is impossible to imagine in such a complex case that the child protection service will do everything right at any time, said the mayor at the time. The state administrator cannot currently estimate what time the inspection will be completed.
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Child protection explains itself in the abuse case in which the mother, father, older brother and neighbor are accused – news Vestland
