– Hearing the horrific stories from the children seems difficult to me, said the neighbour. He is one of the defendants in the court case where four adults from the same neighborhood in a municipality in Hordaland are accused of grossly raping children. The case has shocked the municipality where the families lived. Child protection itself asked to be investigated after everything that has come to light. 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. The court has spent the first three weeks looking through all the arranged hearings in the case. Now, for the first time, the court has heard the neighbor’s explanation. These are the four defendants in the case. On Tuesday, it is the neighbour, the man in his 30s, who will explain himself. As a kind of extra daughter – I think it is very difficult to have to sit here and explain to so many people. The situation is, to put it simply, “absolutely awful”. That’s what the neighbor said when he started his explanation on Tuesday. Kai Inge Gavle is the defender of the neighbour. He says the client is “clearly clear” that he is innocent. – How will he explain himself if things he thinks have not happened? – It is clear that when an indictment has been drawn up in such a serious case, the prosecution has some evidence that points against the person who supports their view. Then he must confront the evidence and explain how he is still in this predicament, says Gavle. All the children were under 10 years old when the abuse allegedly started. The four defendants pleaded not guilty. The defender of the neighbour, Kai-Inge Gavle (th) in conversation with the defender of the father, Jan Henrik Høines. Photo: Maria Gunnarsdotter Svedal The accused talked about how the girl next door was at home with them a lot, and that she became like a kind of extra daughter. He also communicated with her on the app Duo and Snapchat. – Afterwards, I saw that I should distance myself from it a little. It shouldn’t be that much. There was no dangerous contact, but it was just too much. “I’m in love with you” The neighbor is accused, among other things, of taking pictures of the two children that show sexual abuse and sexualizing them. In the explanation, he describes situations in which some of the photos were taken. He describes that it was the children undressed and playing photographer, while he tried to stop them. 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. According to the indictment, he assaulted his son from autumn 2019 to November 2020 and the girl next door from summer 2020 to November 2020. He has also made himself known with short stories depicting sexual abuse of children. He is also said to have shown a pornographic film and video depicting sexual abuse of children to the girl and said “I’m in love with you” to her. Over 50 hours of hearing children The defenders have pointed out that they believe there is a risk that the children may have been influenced before and during the hearing. Altogether, the three victims were interviewed for over 50 hours between November 2020 and February 2023. Interviews from 2017 have also been shown, when the boy and girl from the family were interviewed in connection with the father being convicted of having downloaded an image of abuse. Photo: Ane Hem / TV 2 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 woman in her 40s and the man in his 50s were both arrested in the summer of 2021. 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. The next court days are set aside for explanations from the other defendants. After the neighbor finishes, it’s the father’s turn. Then comes mother and finally older brother. The sequence is the same as the one in which they were arrested. After all four have explained themselves, the child protection agency will testify. Could be the law’s strictest punishment What the defendants have in common is that they are accused of aggravated rape of children under 14 years of age. This means that they can be sentenced to 21 years in prison. Prosecutor Ellen Cathrine Greve has referred to all four charges as “very serious”. – This is a particularly long and comprehensive case concerning physical abuse, she said when the trial started. Ellen Cathrine Greve is the prosecutor in the case. Photo: Maria Gunnarsdotter Svedal In the hearing, the defendants have said that none of what is described in the hearing has happened. – As I said in my inaugural speech, it will be interesting to hear what they say, whether there will be any changes or whether they stand by their position, says Greve. It also appears in the indictment that the public prosecutor will consider asking for custody of the father in the family. It is because he has a previous conviction for downloading an image of abuse. Man in his 50s. Father of two of the victims. Accused of aggravated rape of his son and daughter. The abuse must have happened on several occasions and over several years. Both children were under ten years old when the abuse started. Several of the abuses are said to have occurred against both children at the same time. The father also allegedly forced the youngest son to abuse his younger sister. Is also accused of sexual acts against his own dog. Was previously sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for downloading abuse material between 2013 and 2017. Woman in her 40s. Mother of two of the victims. She is charged with aggravated rape of her son and daughter. The abuse must have occurred on several occasions and over several years. According to the indictment, both children were under ten years old when the abuse started. According to the indictment, she was aware that her son was being abused by his own father. She must have been present during the assault without doing anything to stop it. She is also said to have shown her daughter films that show child abuse. Man in his 20s, oldest son in the family and older brother of two of the offended. Accused of aggravated rape of his own sister and his own brother. The abuse must have continued over several years. They are said to have started when the brother and sister were under ten years old. Man in his 30s. Neighbor of the other defendants in the case and father of one of the victims. He is charged with aggravated rape of his own son and the girl next door. The assault is said to have occurred several times over a period of around one year. Both children were under ten years old when the abuse started. In addition to assaulting both of them, he is said to have caused the two to perform sexual acts against each other. against children.
ttn-69
The accused neighbor explains himself – news Vestland
