– This is a very special situation that I have never been in before, says state attorney Jarle Wikdahl to NRK.
While he argues in court for extended detention – the defendant is a free man.
DEADLINE EXPIRED: While Trøndelag district court is considering extended detention, the defendant is already a free man because the deadline has expired.
Photo: Kari Sørbø / NRK
Postponed due to illness
The detention ended on 5 January this year.
The court case was set for mid-December 2023. At short notice, the case had to be postponed due to the illness of one of the actors. A new date for the trial was 15 January. It was ten days after the detention ended.
It cannot be extended without a judgement.
The prosecutor believes that the detention should be extended by one year and that the probation should continue.
The man in his 40s has broken previous paroles and ended up in custody again.
UROA: The detention should be extended by one year, believes the prosecutor, state attorney Jarle Wikdahl. He is worried about whether the contact with regular contacts will be worse when the defendant no longer has a fixed network.
Photo: Kari Sørbø / NRK
Sentenced to detention several times
The man received his first sentence for sexual offenses in 1997. He was 18 years old then.
He locked a 14-year-old girl in and made her feel him on the genitals. He was also convicted of three counts of exposure.
The sentence was 60 days in prison on terms.
Five years later, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the rape of two girls, one of whom was under 14.
Before the sentence was served, several women in Trondheim from 2001 to 2003 were subjected to assault rape or attempted rape.
In April 2003, the defendant was arrested and subsequently charged with one rape and four attempts.
The sentence was detention for nine years with a minimum term of six years.
In one of the judgments, the court wrote:
Out on trial since 2021
In order for the man to be released on probation, the court set certain conditions.
These included a total ban on alcohol, drug tests, unannounced visits and regular conversations with Friomsorga.
But it is the court that decides these, and without a new judgment the conditions no longer apply.
The man lives in his own apartment. He has a part-time job, participated in regular activities and has several habits. Since last autumn, he has not had an anklet to check that he is at home at night.
In court, he told about an active life. He trains a lot and has had several leaves of absence to participate in sporting events. He said that he has several friends in addition to those he meets through Friomsorga.
The early offenses occurred when he was under the influence of alcohol.
He was clear that he has no interest in tasting alcohol again.
USAMD: Adviser at Trøndelag probation office Snorre Wold believes the defendant should no longer be in custody. The superior body Region North is not agreed.
Photo: Kari Sørbø / NRK
New sexual offenses during probation
In 2011, the defendant had to go into custody again after exposing himself and masturbating outside a kiosk in Trondheim.
He was then on probation and had also broken the alcohol ban.
When he was on probation again in 2018, the police spied on him.
They discovered that the defendant was looking in through several windows where there were women. He was masked with a Finnish cap.
His actions meant that the Court of Appeal re-sentenced him to detention due to the high risk of new serious sexual offenses.
Lower risk of serious crime
Several forensic psychiatric experts have been involved in his cases throughout the more than twenty years the defendant has been in prison.
It has been agreed that the danger of new rapes is great if he is seen free.
Senior doctor in psychiatry Øyvind Erik Duguid Jensen is an expert in the latest court case, and has had several conversations with the accused.
He thinks the man is more well-functioning than he has been in twenty years.
– It is impressive with that history that it works so well.
– He is a huge success, says Jensen.
But the expert was clear that the defendant still needs permanent agreements with safe persons who can advise him.
Defense attorney Ann Turid Bugge asks the defendant if he feels remorse for what he has done.
– I absolutely do, replies the defendant.
BETTER LIFE: Ann Turid Bugge has been a defense attorney for defendants for many years. She says the client has a much better life today after the last trial release.
– Anger and frustration were vented
Prosecutor Jarle Wikdahl wants to know why the rapes in the 2000s happened.
– It was probably generally a life I had lived. Addiction, growing up, experiences. Then other innocent people suffered. They have had their lives ruined, answered the defendant.
Judge Helge Johan Kaasbøll asks why he exposed himself and even ended up in custody again while he was out on trial the first time.
– It was a lot that I couldn’t manage to be out. I couldn’t make the transition from sitting inside to being outside, said the defendant.
So now he is a free man, until the court eventually decides to extend the detention that expired on 5 January.
2024-01-17 21:50:03
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