– Impossible to imagine that the child protection service has done everything right – news Vestland

A mother and a father have been charged with gross abuse of two of their children over several years in a municipality in Vestland. The boy and girl were under ten years old when the abuse allegedly started. Now their son, a man in his 20s, is also charged with assaulting his younger siblings. On Saturday, he was remanded in custody for two weeks in Hordaland District Court. – It is a sad development. At the same time, it is generally important that such things are uncovered, says the mayor of the municipality. Got three warnings The family’s neighbour, a man in his 30s, is also accused of assaulting one of the children and his own son. It was during the investigation of him that the two parents appeared. Child protection in the municipality received a total of three reports of concern about the offended children before the parents were arrested. The first warning came in 2018. Then the father was convicted of downloading abuse material. There were two reports against the family’s neighbor in 2020. One of the reports was about an observation of a very close relationship between a child and an adult. Has opened supervision Child Protection informed the police about each notification. The first notice was assessed as “too little to proceed with”. The parents were first arrested in the summer of 2021. Now the State Administrator has opened a supervisory case regarding the handling of the child welfare services. This was something the child protection agency itself requested. – It is impossible to imagine that, in such a complex case, the child protection agency will do everything right at all times. The mayor believes that child protection has done a very important job in uncovering serious conditions. But at the same time it is important to be humble and discover whether they have done everything right in the matter. The mayor emphasizes that the municipality and the child protection service do not take a position on the question of guilt. – It is up to the court to clarify that, says the mayor. The penalty for aggravated rape of children under 14 is 21 years in prison. All three defendants deny criminal guilt. news has been in contact with the defender of the accused man for 20 years, lawyer Alexander Sæle, who does not want to comment on the case.



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