On Thursday 22 September 2016, a 34-year-old Swedish man was in Oslo District Court, charged with having sexually abused a Thai girl since she was 13 years old. He is also accused of being in possession of abusive images of children. The 34-year-old denies the charges saying that he and the 13-year-old girl were in love.
According to the prosecution, the Swede met the girl on Koh Samui in 2008. She came from a poor town in Northern Thailand, and had just arrived on the island with her mother to work as a prostitute and dancer.
In court, the 34-year-old said that he met the girl in a bar where he was told that she was 18 years old. He paid a small amount to the bar to bring the girl to the hotel, and the following days he could take her on a trip around Thailand.
The accused described the journey as a honeymoon and explained that he was in love with the young girl. During this trip, they had sexual intercourse several times, and the girl got pregnant. The Swede knew about the pregnancy before leaving Thailand, and DNA tests show that he is the father of the child.
The Thai girl was not present in court, but her explanation was read aloud by Attorney General, Asbjørg Lykkjen. In her explanation, the girl confirms that she did not give her real age when they first met in Thailand. She also told that she shared a room with him when they travelled together, but that she did not feel anything for him and only saw him as a customer.
The man, who has been living in Oslo, has been in the police’s spotlight earlier. In 2012, he was investigated in connection with a case of suspected assault.
In connection with the investigation, the police found 82 video files containing sexual abuse of children and 214 sexualized images of children.
Police dropped the charges as they considered themselves being unable to prove that the images and movies belonged to the man.
In 2012, it emerged that the woman who reported him to the police knew that he had an affair with a very young Thai girl, which is what led to the police becoming aware that the man had a child with the young girl.
Source: NRK
