A man in his 40s acknowledges having committed a net of 263 sexual offences against children.This is the second major sexual abuse case in Romerike in a short time.
The victims in the case were children between the ages of 6 and 16.Around 220 of the victims are Norwegian and live across the country.The rest are from other Nordic countries according to NRK news.
Most of the victims were boys whom the man had contacted through the chat programs of Skype and Omegle.
‘’The boys had thought they were talking to a girl who was one or two years older than them.The accused had been very good at using youth language’’ said Anette Holt Tønsberg, coordinating aid lawyer in the case.
The victims had been encouraged to perform sexual acts.
‘’He’s relieved to have been arrested because he wanted to get out of it.He has asked for help in prison’’ said the man’s lawyer, Gard A. Lier.
‘’This became an addiction, something he was doing secretly.
It was difficult to seek help’’ said Lier about why the man did not apply for help earlier.
The accused man has been in custody since he was arrested in January 2018.It happened after one of the children’s mothers overheard a video chat conversation between her son and the man charged, and contacted the police.
In January, what is referred to as Norway’s largest case of abuse went to the court in Lower Romerike. This case covered almost 500 offenders.Three children were registered by the police in both cases, but according to the defence, there is no relationship between the perpetrators in the two cases.
The cases, however, have several similarities. In both cases,the children had believed that they were talking to their peers,and the abuses had taken place online.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
