New information about the municipality’s handling of the pedophile in Ljusdal • “It’s too damned”
A man in his 30s in the municipality of Ljusdal is suspected for several years of sexually assaulting little girls when he worked at preschools. The municipality has said that they had no reason to suspect the man, but this week TV4 Nyheterna was able to reveal that several years ago in the same municipality he was accused of sexual harassment against girls of the same age.
– He could hold us against walls and just take it for himself. He sat over one on the floor and held one, says a former female schoolmate that TV4 Nyheterna spoke to.
Had to pay damages
After the woman and other schoolmates repeatedly reported the man’s sexual harassment to the school and no one acted on it, she reported it to the Equality Ombudsman. After an investigation, the municipality had to pay damages of SEK 60,000 for lack of documentation.
“The attitude should be that violations do not stop automatically, but in fact tend to increase. It is important that a student is taken seriously when she or he reports harassment. There is no documentation prepared at the time of the incident about how the school handled the situation,” the investigation states, among other things.
New data
Now new information is coming to light. Despite the alarm to the school and the compensation paid just over 15 years ago, the man got an internship at a preschool in Ljusdal municipality shortly afterwards.
– It’s too damned frankly. It is tragic that it has to happen that way. That he got that opportunity, says the former schoolmate to TV4 Nyheterna.
There were several warning signs. But the woman believes that the school and the municipality have not taken these seriously.
– More and more people have sounded the alarm, but no one has been taken seriously. The municipality has had several chances to see that something is not right. But they have chosen not to do anything, she says.
“If only someone had documented it…”
The woman is not surprised that information was missed. She and her mother talk about this daily and note that no one listened to them.
– If only someone had documented it then… Like, for example, when he wanted an internship at the preschool, they would have seen that there is something documented about him. Then he wouldn’t have had that opportunity. You feel an anger, at the same time we can regret that we did not make a police report against him. In hindsight it would have been fine, but it’s hard to do anything about it now. she says.
The municipality’s response
Linnea van Wagenen, head of municipal management, says that the municipality and the school have failed and not done what they were supposed to. Now an external investigator will review them so that something like this does not happen again. She also believes that higher demands should be placed on those who work in schools and preschools on a national level.
– I am very sad about what has happened to both the children and the parents who are affected, but also all the girls who have come forward and said that they grew up in an unsafe environment at school. I take that to heart very, very much and it is bigger than this case. It’s about a system that hasn’t worked, she says.
Now the puzzle must continue to be put together where the municipality must find out what errors have been committed.
– No one wants to sweep something under the carpet or pretend that we have done the right thing, when it turns out that we have not. Everyone is very interested in what has happened, says Linnea van Wagenen.