SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Spanish doctor charged with child sex abuse in Sweden

A Spanish doctor faces trial in Sweden, charged with sexually abusing 52 child patients, including several counts of aggravated rape, between 2015 and 2017.

Spanish doctor charged with child sex abuse in Sweden
A Swedish prosecutor and police presenting the charges. Photo: Hanna Franzén/TT

The 29-year-old is accused of having assaulted a total of 70 patients, including 18 adults, while working in several hospitals and health facilities in Sweden.

Prosecutors claim the doctor, who has been held in custody since December 2017, had examined child patients' genitals in cases when it was “medically irrelevant”.

The children were aged between two and 12. In four of the cases, “the crime should be deemed aggravated by (the doctor's) recklessness against the child's young age and abuse of his position”, prosecutors said in the charge sheet.

The man, who denies the charges, is also accused of filming some of the assaults, and of possessing child pornography.

The doctor, who also worked for an online health care service allowing clients to consult him via video chats, had allegedly asked parents to show their children's genitals.

“The abuse of the trust generally enjoyed by doctors, and the use of a new technology to commit sexual abuse, is unique and worrying,” Fredric Wikman, a lawyer representing several victims, told TT news agency.

The doctor, whose trial starts on September 20th, faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

Suspects held after 38-year-old shot dead on Södermalm in Stockholm

Several people are being held after a man in his 40s was shot dead in Stockholm's Södermalm district.

Suspects held after 38-year-old shot dead on Södermalm in Stockholm

The shooting happened at around 6.20pm on Monday evening and a huge police operation was immediately launched.

Police cordoned off the area around Helgalunden on Allhelgonagatan, which is close to the busy Götgatan street, Skanstull metro station and the Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet high school.

Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT reports that the victim is a 38-year-old man with links to gang crime, although police said it was too early to say whether the shooting was connected to a gang conflict.

Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet reports that one of the suspects is a man in his 20s, with a police record of a series of minor offences but no violent crime convictions. Police said there were other people in custody too, but declined to say what they were suspected of.

Roughly where the man was shot. Screenshot: Google Maps

The shooting happened in front of several witnesses.

“I live 50 metres from the scene and ran downstairs with a blanket and first aid kit. It was nice seeing so many people already there trying to save a life,” a witness told SVT.

“This happened in the middle of the day near the metro where there are a lot of people. This is otherwise a safe area. At the same time, it’s sad no matter where shootings happen.”

SHOW COMMENTS