The little girl disappeared from a residential area north of Trollhättan on the night of July 12. When she was found later in the evening, she was missing some clothing and had scabs. After a medical examination, the police classified the crime as attempted murder.

Prosecutor Per-Åke Kvarnström told TT news agency that the girl said someone held something over her mouth in such a way that the doctor believed her life had been in danger.

The 18-year-old man admitted that he had been in the area. Police also found DNA evidence linking the man to crime in sperm found on the girl’s dress, reported Göteborgs-Posten (GP) newspaper.

“When the girl came to her mother, her leggings and panties were missing. Sperm was found on her dress and a search of the DNA database matched it to this individual,” Kvarnström told GP.

The prosecutor and police have not ruled out charging the man with attempted rape of a child, reported the newspaper.

The 18-year-old denies the crime.

“This is a place where youth often hang out. And his explanation for the discovery of his sperm on the dress is that he had been there masturbating,” defense attorney Tommy Nilsson told TT.