A 20-year-old man from Rogaland will appear in court on Monday accused of rape and attempted rape of minors.
Several of the assaults took place inside the leisure club, where he was employed when the conditions allegedly took place. Among other things, he is accused of getting two underage boys to have sex with each other, and of rape inside the leisure club.
According to defender Brynjar Meling, the young man is “very clear” that he acknowledges a number of the conditions he is accused of, but not all.
– He will explain himself in detail about what he acknowledges, and then he will explain himself about what he does not acknowledge. He has an idea about what happened there, and he will explain that in court, says Meling to TV 2.
DEFENDER: Lawyer Brynjar Meling is defending the 20-year-old. Photo: Elias Håvarstein / TV 2
The assaults must have occurred during a period of one year. The man in his 20s was arrested in March last year, and has been in custody since then.
– It has been a very tough journey for him. He is concerned about what he has done, and that it should not happen again. He also wants to get help and an explanation of what has contributed to things happening, says Meling.
The defense attorney says the man has periodically had a very hard time while he has been in custody. Now the accused man from Rogaland is looking forward to explaining himself to the court.
– He is prepared. He will give an explanation and in his own words answer all questions that are put to him. This is a very young man who has his own history and background with a number of challenges growing up which he will try to address, and which we will document through, among other things, health records, says Meling.
Pretended to be a girl
Large parts of the indictment are about a fake Snapchat account that pretended to be a girl called “Tuva”. The prosecution believes this was disposed of by the defendant.
This was used to send sexualized images, allegedly obtained from the Internet, with a request for nude images in return.
FAKE ACCOUNT: Many of the conditions in the indictment deal with online abuse via Snapchat. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
The “Tuva” account is said to have also caused several underage boys to send videos of them masturbating to what was in reality the now accused man, according to the indictment signed by public prosecutor Folke Åmlid.
With the fake account, the defendant is said to have sent such a video of one of the victims masturbating to another minor. In addition, the account is said to have sent sexualised images and videos of a girl unknown to the police to several minors, and sent messages with sexualised content.
TV 2 knows that it will be central for the defense to try to make visible who has had access to the Snapchat account with the fake profile.
PROSECUTOR: State attorney Folke Åmlid is the prosecutor for the prosecution in the trial, which starts on Monday in Sør-Rogaland district court. Photo: Kristian Myhre / TV 2
– Affects a very small community
There are to be 17 offended minors in the case, according to the indictment. Merete Bjørkelund is a lawyer for those of them who have the right to legal assistance.
– It is a serious matter. It has been a difficult and tough process for those involved and their families, says aid lawyer Bjørkelund to TV 2.
The leisure club is located in a densely populated area where many people know each other, and the public assistance lawyer says that the case has significant ripple effects.
– It affects a very small community, she says.
Six days have been set aside for the trial, which starts on Monday in Sør-Rogaland district court.
