A man admitted that he assaulted the daughter of the woman he had a relationship with, but claimed it happened in his sleep.
Now the Svea Court of Appeal also rejects the man’s explanation, and convicts him of several cases of rape against children, reports Dagens Juridik.
In the Västmanland district court, the 52-year-old man was sentenced to three years in prison for two cases of child rape and one case of gross sexual abuse.
Technical evidence is missing in the case. Despite this, the district court sided with the plaintiff, a seven-year-old girl, who said that the man assaulted her on several occasions.
As the girl and the man, according to the investigation, had a good relationship, the court considered the girl’s stories to be credible.
What brought the man down were also the text messages he sent to the girl’s mother, after being confronted about the deeds. There, the man regrets what the girl was subjected to, but claimed that he must have done it in his sleep.
Now the Svea Court of Appeal, like the district court, takes the girl’s line and rejects the man’s explanation. According to the Court of Appeal, the man’s SMS is a clear afterthought, which, on the contrary, supports the prosecution against him.
The Court of Appeal also stiffens the man’s sentence to four years in prison.