– The reason why we make reservations about detention is the seriousness of the circumstances and that he is charged with repeated sexual abuse of children, says Acting State Attorney Karl Kristian Nordheim to TV 2.
Telemarking in the 50s is well known by the police from before. Among other things, he has previously been convicted of several assaults on his own son.
After serving his sentence, the man went to Gambia in the autumn of 2010.
During the same period, Norwegian police received two reports against him. It is these conditions for which he is now charged. They apply to:
- Repeated sexual intercourse with a then five-year-old boy in the period June to November 2009. According to the indictment, the abuse took place in a car, a caravan and on the Danish boat. The man is also said to have threatened to harm the boy’s family if he did not get what he wanted.
- Touching another boy on several occasions in the summer and fall of 2010.
In prisoner revolt
The reason why he is only now being prosecuted for the alleged abuses back in 2009 and 2010, is that he has been in prison in Gambia.
When the Norwegian police became aware of the mentioned cases in Norway and found out that he had left the country, they tipped off the authorities in Gambia. He was also wanted internationally.
As a result, local police raided an address on Gambia’s west coast. In the home, they found the Norwegian together with six minor children. In addition, they found a memory card with evidence.
– LIVING HERE: The house the telemarking lived in is located in Banjul in Gambia. Photo: Tore Meek / NTB
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Norwegian police have not obtained the verdict that the man received in Gambia, but as TV 2 understands it, he was convicted of abusing several children in the African country.
After a few months in prison, a judge in Gambia opened to release him on bail of 11,000 Norwegian kroner, but after talking to Norwegian police, the judge turned around and stopped his release.
While the Norwegian was in custody, he was involved in a prisoner uprising in the infamous Mile Two Central prison in Banjul.
Claimed his innocence
The prisoners are said to have rebelled against miserable conditions of imprisonment. They demanded more airtime, better medical care, better sanitation and better food.
The prisoners also complained that they were detained for far too long before their cases were brought before the court.
During the custody period, the Norwegian gave an interview to Aftenposten. There he asserted his innocence in connection with the charge of abusing six children.
– It is not true. They have no evidence against me. I’ve never done anything wrong here in Gambia. This case is not about Gambia. It is about a letter that Norwegian police sent via the internet to Gambia. That’s why I was arrested. No one has reported me, they have no case, he said in the interview in 2012.
– MANY YEARS DEFENDANT: Lawyer Sigurd Klomsæt pictured when he visited his imprisoned client in Gambia in 2011. Photo: Tore Meek / NTB
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But the court disagreed. After two years in custody, he was sentenced in December 2012 to prison for abusing several of the boys who were in his room. They were between three and ten years old.
In 2018, several Gambian media reported that the Norwegian had been pardoned, but a few days later the counter-message came: After strong protests, the pardon was withdrawn.
He was eventually released and returned to Norway last summer. He was then arrested by the police and taken into custody.
Now the indictment after the alleged abuses in 2009 and 2010 is ready.
Have interrogation on video
The man’s defender, lawyer Sigurd Klomsæt, does not want to comment on how the man reacts to the accusations.
Assistance lawyer Gunhild Bergan does not want to comment on the case.
It has not been decided when the case will come before the Oslo District Court.
In court, it will be played by judge interrogations that were done with the offended boys in the time after their cases were reported. It is also planned that they will explain themselves in court.
Two court-appointed experts will also explain their assessments of the man.
– They have made an assessment of him, including the possible risk that he will commit new criminal acts, says Acting State Attorney Nordheim.
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