Lindberg was sentenced by the district court to six and a half years.

The court of appeal confirmed the convictions against the 64-year-old for aggravated rape, rape, assault, pimping, buying sex and attempting to buy sex.

Lindberg appealed the convictions, seeking to overturn all but the sex buying charges, to which he had admitted. The prosecutor had meanwhile sought an eight year sentence.

The court confirmed the district court ruling that it had been proved that Lindberg raped a 17-year-old girl in January 2007. The girl spent much of the rape tied up, the court concluded.

Lindberg was however found not guilty of having raped the same girl on a prior occasion.

He was also convicted for, among other things, another rape and an assault in connection with buying sex.

Lindberg was found not-guilty, as he was by the district court, on a charge of preparing to commit aggravated rape against a child. This concerned a case involving a 14-year-old girl in Falun in central Sweden. It was while he was on his way to meet the teenager that police apprehended the former chief.

The rape of the 17-year-old was deemed aggravated and Lindberg was ordered to pay damages of 175,000 kronor ($25,000).

Göran Lindberg was principal of the Swedish National Police Academy (Polishögskolan – PHS) from 1989-1997, and was Uppsala county police chief from then until 2006.

The charges against the recently retired senior officer sent shockwaves through the Swedish police force. His seniority and the nature of the charges against him make it the biggest ever scandal in Swedish policing.

The impact of the charges was all the greater due to Lindberg’s reputation as one of the Swedish police’s top authorities on ethics and morals. He frequently gave lectures on topics such as gender equality and spoke out against sexual harassment and bullying.