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full screen The new trial in the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden was very stressful for the girl and her family, says the mother. Image from the trial. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT
The family was thrown into a nightmare – and the wounds are torn open anew every time the case is raised. When the Court of Appeal now announces its verdict in the “snippa case”, the mother hopes for an end.
– But I don’t dare to think beyond one day at a time, she says.
The mother states that almost three years have passed since the suspected abuse of her daughter.
– My daughter was ten years old then, she has turned thirteen now, says the mother.
The man in his 50s was convicted of child rape in the district court, but acquitted in the court of appeals because the court hesitated about what the girl meant by the word snipe – and considered that it was not proven that penetration had taken place.
The case received a lot of attention, stirred up a storm of protest online and led to demonstrations in several places. The family was thrown into a rollercoaster of emotions: despair at the verdict, gratitude at the support.
Terrible time
The Supreme Court later ruled that it was wrong for the court not to try any other criminal classifications – for example, sexual abuse of children – and the case was taken up again in the Court of Appeal. Today comes the verdict.
– Everything is torn up again every time the case is brought up, says the mother and says that her daughter feels very bad.
The parents have also been on sick leave for anxiety linked to the incident.
– It has been a terrible time. At the same time, we have a safe social network around us, not everyone who experiences things like this has that, she says and adds:
– In the midst of everything, we are also incredibly grateful that the case was not dropped, like most cases when it comes to crimes against children, she says.
Want to see childhood chairs
The mother is involved but not resigned. She hopes for compensation for her daughter – but also for the case to shed light on the vulnerability of children within the legal system. She wants to see special children’s courts that take on cases where children are involved.
– We have child police officers who are trained, but between them and the courts there is an abyss. Children must be listened to and allowed to tell in their own language, she says.
TT has sought the man’s defense lawyer.
The FACT Snippet Goal
The so-called snipe case concerns a man in his 50s who in June 2021 allegedly put his hand inside a ten-year-old girl’s panties and touched her genitals. In the district court, he was sentenced to three years in prison for two counts of child rape.
The Court of Appeal for Western Sweden also considered it proved that the man had touched the girl’s sex, but since the girl had difficulty explaining what was actually meant by “nip” and how far the man’s fingers penetrated, it was not possible to “prove that the man penetrated her abdomen”.
In the absence of information, the Swedish dictionary was consulted, which describes snippa as “female external genitalia”. The man was freed.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Appeal made a mistake when they did not examine alternative criminal classifications, for example sexual abuse of children. The verdict was overturned and the trial resumed in February 2024.
On Wednesday, March 6, the verdict will be announced.
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