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SEXUAL ASSAULT

Man convicted for sex crimes against 13 girls

A 35-year-old man from Stockholm considered to be one of Sweden's worst child sex offenders was sentenced to psychiatric care on Thursday for sexually assaulting more than a dozen pre-teen girls.

Referred to in the media as the Söderortspedofilen (‘South Stockholm paedophile’), the man was charged with committing aggravated sex crimes against 13 young girls between the age of 8 and 11.

The case covered more than 20 different crimes, including aggravated child rape.

The man also filmed his crimes, which were committed in a number of Stockholm suburbs between 2007 and 2010.

He was arrested in July 2010 after police were called to a playground in the Stockholm suburb of Farsta following reports from two teenage boys that a man was trying to make contact with young girls.

On Thursday, the Södertörn District Court sentenced the man to psychiatric care and ordered him to pay a total of 1.13 million kronor ($179,000) to nine of the girls he molested.

The largest single compensation claim of 250,000 kronor is to be paid to a girl who was likely only seven or eight years old when she was assaulted by the 35-year-old.

On two occasions, the girl was raped by being blindfolded while the man forced his penis into her mouth.

The 35-year-old was also convicted for doing the same thing to four other children who couldn’t be identified in the video evidence submitted to the court.

The rapes were proven by the films the 35-year-old made of the attacks. He was convicted of aggravated child rape, child rape, sexual assaulting a child, and sexual molestation.

According to the district court, the man would have been sentenced to more than ten years in prison if he was healthy, but since he was found to suffer from a severe mental illness, he has instead been sentenced to spend time in a court-appointed psychiatric care facility.

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CHILDREN

What names do foreign nationals give their babies in Switzerland?

Each year for more than three decades, the Federal Statistical Office has been publishing the first names of infants born in Switzerland the previous year. It seems that foreigners favour names that are typical of their national background.

What names do foreign nationals give their babies in Switzerland?
Foreigners give their babies names that reflect their nationality. Photo by Keira Burton from Pexels

As The Local reported on Wednesday, the most popular names for newborn girls born in Switzerland in 2020 were Mia, Emma, and Mila.

For boys, Noah took the top spot, ahead of Liam and Matteo.

REVEALED: The most popular baby name in each Swiss canton

But what about the most popular names among various nationalities living in Switzerland?

The answers come from the same study.

Italy

The top name for boys of Italian parents is Giuseppe, followed by Antonio and Francesco. For girls, Maria is in the first place, Anna in the second, and Francesca in the third.

Portugal

There are many Portuguese immigrants living in Switzerland and, like their Italian counterparts, they like to give their children traditional names: José, Carlos and Manuel for boys, and Maria, Ana, and Sandra for girls.

Spain

Spanish names are similar to those of Portuguese babies.

José, Juan and Jose are most popular boy names, while Maria, Ana and Laura are in the top three spots for the girls.

Turkey

Most boys of Turkish descent are named Mehmet, Ali, and Mustafa. Among girls, Fatma, Ayse, and Elif dominate.

Kosovo

Arben, Vallon, and Bekim are top names for boys, and Fatime, Shquipe, and Merite for girls.

Macedonia

Bekim is in the first place for boys, followed by Muhamed and Fatmir. Among girls, Fatimr is in the lead, Sara in the second place, and Emine in the third.

Serbia

Aleksandar, Dragan and Nicola take the first three spots. For the girls, Jelena, Maria and Snezana are at the top.

Can you give your baby any name you want?

Not in Switzerland, you can’t. It’s important to keep in mind that the cantonal registry offices, where new births must be announced, don’t have to accept very unusual names.

Several years ago, for instance, a Zurich court ruled that parents can’t name their infant daughter ‘J’.

In another case, a couple in the canton of Bern were ordered to change the name of their newborn son because their choice – Jessico – was considered too feminine. 

Several names have been forbidden in Switzerland, including Judas, Chanel, Paris and Mercedes. 

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