• Sweden edition

Prison for abusive foster parents

Published: 10 Jun 09 13:12 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19986/20090610/

Two foster parents charged with abusing three orphaned brothers in their care were sentenced to prison on Wednesday by the Falu District Court in central Sweden.

The couple, who ran a foster home in Dalarna, were convicted of gross violation of integrity (grov fridskränkning), but acquitted of a number of other charges, including illegal coercion, abuse, and illegal deprivation of liberty.

The 42-year-old man and his 49-year-old wife have each been sentenced to eighteen months in prison and together must pay 125,000 kronor ($16,300) in damages to each of the three boys.

The three young brothers had been placed in the foster home the couple operated on their farm in Dalarna in April 2001 after their mother passed away and their father couldn’t care for them due to substance abuse problems.

The boys were two, four, and five-years-old at the time.

From March 2004 through August 2007, the three brothers were subjected to repeated and wide-ranging abuse.

Two of the boys were hung out the attic window as punishment for letting sheep out of their pasture. All three boys were also locked in their room when they broke rules in the house.

The man was also charged for having tied up the boys in bags and hung them from hooks in the attic ceiling, but the court dismissed the charges due to a lack of convincing evidence.

The abuse of the boys was revealed when the children were moved to other foster homes and began to tell their new foster parents what had happened.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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13:33 June 10, 2009 by Tennin
Those boys had to live with their abuse for 3 years, yet the foster parents only have to go to jail for 18 months and pay damages. Then they're convicted for "gross violation of integrity (grov fridskränkning), but acquitted of a number of other charges, including illegal coercion, abuse, and illegal deprivation of liberty."

I love their long list of things they're acquitted for. Wow, it's just now enough punishment for their crime.
14:36 June 10, 2009 by eZee.se
Shoulld have gotten a minimum of 3 years for the 3 years they tortured those little kids... personally, I would be happy if it would be in the range of 6-8 but this is Sweden, even murderers dont get that kind of time.
20:32 June 10, 2009 by Kaethar
And the Sweden-bashers are back. Sweden has some of the strictest rules in the world when it comes to child welfare. Some people simply can't understand that you can't convict a person of a crime with no evidence just because someone said they did it.
23:15 June 10, 2009 by Nemesis
They should have been setn to a mental institution for life.
08:56 June 11, 2009 by Kooritze
What a mickey mouse legal system!

Tied them up in bags and hung them from the attic ceiling!!!........I mean c,mon!!!! 18months in a comfy prison for that!!!

Sick!
09:49 June 11, 2009 by karex
It is my humble opinion that in addition to reviewing the existing laws a serious look should be given to the psychological preparedness of judges. I know of a least one who had a serious problem coping with a conscious issue for sending people to jail. Even with lax laws, there is usually a minimum and maximum penalty. In most cases not even the minimum penalty is applied. The "penalty of choice" seems to be more often than not, to send perpetrators to psychiactric institutions.

It is absurdly naive to believe that normal people would never commit wrong acts. So if they do, they MUST be mentally ill...

If you don't have the emotional and psychological stamina or preparation to do your job properly, you should seriously consider a career change.
18:45 June 12, 2009 by LeKisse
The foster parents should be thrown into prison with psychiatric treatments for the duration of time they spent abusing those children, who were dependent on them.

Karex:

Normal people do not generally abuse children for three years. There are issues with the parents. They may be sociopaths or have suffered from abuse themselves.
23:44 June 12, 2009 by Puffin
But I don't beleive that there was even a paragraf 7 examination - so how would this have been a possible sentence
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