The Norwegian father of Alicia Elfversson, the six year-old Swedish girl who he abducted and took to Cambodia, has been sentenced to one and a half years in prison by a district court in Gothenburg.
Back in June 2007, then 47-year-old Norwegian citizen Torgeir Nordbo had told the girl’s mother, Maria Elfversson, that he was taking Alicia on a two week vacation.
At the time, Elfversson was living in Gothenburg and raising the then five-year-old Alicia, against the wishes of Nordbo, who lived in Thailand.
After not hearing from Alicia’s father for several days, Elfversson later learned from a lawyer that Nordo had taken the girl on an “extended vacation”.
Following more than a year in hiding, during which time Nordo had cut Alicia’s hair in attempt to disguise her as a boy, he was arrested in Cambodia in July and brought back to Sweden to stand trial.
Prosecutors sought and succeed in having Nordbo convicted of unlawfully separating the child from her legal guardian (egenmäktighet med barn), for which he is to serve 18 months in prison.
In addition, the court ordered Nordbo to pay 88,000 kronor ($12,450) in damages to the girl’s mother and 40,000 kronor to Alicia.
