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Swedish police in major paedophile sting

A man in Uppland in central Sweden is suspected of raping a minor and exploiting more than 70 young girls who were coerced into exposing themselves on the internet. The police investigation has been described as the largest of its kind in Sweden to date.

Published: 23 April 2009 12:12 CEST

The man, who is reported to come from the county of Uppland, north of Stockholm, is in his thirties.

He is suspected of having exploited as many as 70 girls, according to local newspaper Uppsala Nya Tidning (UNT).

“The investigation has grown exponentially. I do not know of any other case with this scope,” said the prosecutor Thomas Bälter Nordenman to the newspaper.

The suspect is alleged to have used threats to coerce the girls, many of whom were under 15-years-old, to strip and carry out sexual acts in front of a web camera.

The case became the subject of an investigation in the autumn, when the man was reported for having raped a 14-year-old girl. The girl also reported to police that she had been coerced into performing sexual acts in front of a web camera.

The IP address was traced, the man was arrested, and police managed to recover 1,500 chat conversations with various girls. A wealth of tip-offs lead to the identification of the large number of girls.

The prosecutor hopes to charge the man in May for, among other things, rape of a child, sexual coercion and aggravated sexual exploitation of children.

“I am going to seek a long custodial sentence,” said Thomas Bälter Nordenman to UNT.

The suspect, who has been in custody for four months, confirmed through his lawyer that he denies the charges.

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SEX

France taken to European Court over divorce ruling that woman had ‘marital duty’ to have sex with husband

A case has been brought against France at the European Court of Human Rights by a woman who lost a divorce case after judges ruled against her because she refused to have sex with her husband.

Published: 19 March 2021 16:40 CET
France taken to European Court over divorce ruling that woman had 'marital duty' to have sex with husband
Photo: Frederick Florin/AFP

The woman, who has not been named, has brought the case with the backing of two French feminist groups, arguing that the French court ruling contravened human rights legislation by “interference in private life” and “violation of physical integrity”.

It comes after a ruling in the Appeals Court in Versailles which pronounced a fault divorce in 2019 because of her refusal to have sex with her husband.

READ ALSO The divorce laws in France that foreigners need to be aware of

The court ruled that the facts of the case “established by the admission of the wife, constitute a serious and renewed violation of the duties and obligations of marriage making intolerable the maintenance of a shared life”.

Feminist groups Fondation des femmes (Women’s Foundation) and Collectif féministe contre le viol (Feminist Collective against Rape) have backed her appeal, deploring the fact that French justice “continues to impose the marital duty” and “thus denying the right of women to consent or not to sexual relations”.

“Marriage is not and should not be a sexual servitude,” the joint statement says, pointing out that in 47 percent of the 94,000 recorded rapes and attempted rapes per year, the aggressor is the spouse or ex-spouse of the victim.

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