The elite rider was acquitted in August of one case of rape and two cases of rape of children. The rider admitted having sexual intercourse with the two plaintiffs but denied any wrongdoing. The rape must have taken place in 2014 and according to the district court, the prosecutor could not prove that there was the form of coercion (assault, violence or threat) that the legislation then required for the act to be considered criminal.
With regard to the suspected cases of rape of children, which are said to have taken place in 2008, the district court found no evidence that the girl was under 15 years of age when the sexual relationship began and it also takes into account that a long time has passed since the incident.
After the acquittal in the district court, the Equestrian Federation chose to appoint an internal investigation, which could have resulted in a ten-year suspension from competitions and coaching assignments. The investigation resulted in the Disciplinary Committee’s decision on Wednesday. The board writes that a substantive examination cannot be made because the reported acts are statute-barred.
“According to the statute of limitations that applied when the reported acts are alleged to have been committed – ie before March 2014 – a maximum statute of limitations of four years applied for offenses according to RF’s statutes. The reported acts were thus statute-barred no later than in February 2018. “
The Swedish Equestrian Federation chose to immediately take the matter to the National Sports Board (RIN).
– We work hard to make everyone feel safe in the equestrian sport and it is a great disappointment to us that our internal investigation did not lead to any sanction. What has emerged from the documents in the current case shows a completely unacceptable behavior, and by going on to the National Sports Board, we want to emphasize that it is the regulations that put a stop to us in this serious case, says the Swedish Equestrian Federation’s chairman Ulf Brömster in his text to the Swedish Sports Confederation.
The equestrian federation writes that it will be stated to RIN that the limitation period according to Swedish law, in the case of sexual offenses against children, begins to count from the day when the child turns 18, not from the day when the crime was committed, and that the limitation period for a serious violation in sport should be counted in the same way.
If RIN reaches the same decision as the Equestrian Federation’s own disciplinary committee, the federation intends to take the matter further to have the Swedish Sports Confederation’s rules changed.
– Safety issues, and above all the safety of young people, are very important in all sports and it is therefore of the utmost importance that regulations and routines capture this. We now want the Swedish Sports Confederation to use the rules in a different way and if that does not work, we want to see a change in the rules, says Ulf Brömster.
–
