• Sweden edition

Top cop jailed for sex crimes

Published: 30 Jul 10 11:57 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/28098/20100730/

A former principal of Sweden's police training college and chief constable of Uppsala County has been jailed for six and a half years for crimes including aggravated rape, pimping and paying for sex.

Göran Lindberg faced 23 charges, including one count of aggravated rape, three counts of rape, ten counts of pimping and eight counts of paying for sex. He pleaded guilty only to the charges of paying for sex. He was found guilty on all but six charges. He was acquitted of one charge of rape, three charges of pimping and one charge of preparing to rape a child.

Prosecutors had wanted Lindberg to serve eight years in jail. Lindberg argued that he should be released, claiming that his long period on remand was sufficient punishment for the crime of paying for sex.

Lindberg was arrested on January 25th in Falun, where he was on his way to a meeting with a young girl with whom he had planned a sexual encounter. At this point he had been under police surveillance for some time.

When he was arrested, Lindberg was carrying a bag containing items that could be used to facilitate sexual assaults.

The charges against Lindberg sent shockwaves through the Swedish police service. His seniority and the nature of the charges against him make it the biggest ever scandal in Swedish policing.

The impact of the charges was all the greater due to Lindberg’s reputation as one of the Swedish police’s top authorities on ethics and morals. He frequently gave lectures on topics such as gender equality and spoke out against sexual harassment and bullying.

Two members of the police board in Uppsala County are new demanding the establishment of a "truth commission" to investigate whether Lindberg committed crimes while he was serving as chief constable, between 1997 and 2006.

Prosecutor Håkan Roswall said that two prostitutes have claimed he was a client while he was still chief constable. The allegations were not investigated because the crimes were past the statute of limitations.

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

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12:39 July 30, 2010 by concha de tu puta madre
This very lenient conviction is yet another slap in the face to the rape victims. The legal system in this land is encouraging criminal behavior and at the end it will force vigilantism from within its law abiding citizens.
12:41 July 30, 2010 by Swedesmith
Wonder when he gets his first field trip to the sex shop?
12:48 July 30, 2010 by bolababu
..a perfect example of a typical swedish man.
12:48 July 30, 2010 by vicarno
Oh what a mess and disgrace to the police, he should stew in his juice, and I hope he is not released after 2 years for good behaviour, and NEVER have access to sex toy shop.
12:54 July 30, 2010 by Eric Cantona
Steig Larsson - he knew what was going on...!
13:42 July 30, 2010 by eddie123
some interesting stuff... reminds me of elliot spitzer in the USA. tough prosecutor who ended up as clint 9 in a prostitution case and was forced to resign as governor of new york. you'd expect people vested in the force to know better. unfortunately, they don't.
14:30 July 30, 2010 by Soft Boiled
Lets be fair. That could mean six and a half years without bakers yeast. :S
15:14 July 30, 2010 by Rebel
Ah, but eddie, I doubt Lindberg will get a nice job at CNN like Spitzer:

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2010/06/23/eliot-spitzer-cnns-newest-host/

And did Spitzer get any jail time?
15:16 July 30, 2010 by concha de tu puta madre
@Rebel.. Spitzer only crime was to bang a whore while this cop was indicted for rape..
16:18 July 30, 2010 by eddie123
Spitzer lost his job but was smart to negotiate a smooth and safe passage. mind you, he was a highly rated NY prosecutor and had deep roots to rely on. of course, his case wasn't as bad as this Uppsala dudes. Spitzer rehabilitated his image and has been on the US media scene since 2009 - first as a columinst, then as a TV pundit and lately, a would be CNN prime time talk show host. pretty impressive er?

this Uppsala cop's case is most unfortunate but sh*t does happen. At some point, the prostitution laws in Sweden most be reviewed. It takes two to tango. You can't just prosecute only the person paying for sex whereas the person doing the selling is allowed to walk scout free. The current practice encourages and enboldens prostitution rather than discouraging it.
16:54 July 30, 2010 by Icarusty
Sounds like he'll have a good retirement in Thailand when he's free!
21:20 July 30, 2010 by farnoxo
Absolute power corrupts absolutely!
22:02 July 30, 2010 by nikow
The odd thing about this story (from a non Swedish perspective) is the silliness of one of the charges. Aggravated rape is a violent crime - utterly reprehensible. Pimping is nasty too, especially if the prostitutes are operating under duress. Paying for sex is something one associates with sad middle-aged men trying to cope with andropause. The Sweden I fell in love with was not the sort of country to criminalise human appetites and weakness. I have read the arguments about complicity in human trafficking and I don't buy them. I agree it is not right to criminalise the prostitute and not the punter, but why criminalise either of them?

Think about it this way. If you dropped the 8 counts of paying for sex, would you think better of Lindberg?

I think you wouldn't. It's like charging a man with rape, pimping and making a fool of himself. I really don't get this new law.
23:05 July 30, 2010 by Coalbanks
And he is the only one ?
10:12 July 31, 2010 by Da Goat
Oh yes polis love to get their noses in the trough!
23:22 July 31, 2010 by Taxalien
I think it is an interesting case.

If you read the judgement you'll find what a wonderful personality he is.

You'll find out that all the women involved where vulnerable women. Some of which were self harming and therefore committed at various institutions. They sold sex because they were in that situation and because they needed the money. All the cases appear to be that way. Inexperienced unstable women who sold sex because they appeared to have nothing better to do and not counting on ending up with a violent perverted man.

If the anti-prostitution maffia needed arguments, they just got some.

Then you have the 3 convicted men. The sentences make a mockery out of the judicial system here. If it was right to convict then surely the penalty should have been more severe.

The other two were both running their own companies etc, yet the dagsbot was quite low, like 180-280 kr or something.

Does anyone earn that little money these days? A joke.

You can read about it yourself here:

http://politisktinkorrekt.info/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=76
00:43 August 1, 2010 by GLO
Sad , you have to forgive, he is forever punished.
13:45 August 4, 2010 by sadiejo400wcn
nothing new about this news. it happens all over the world so Sweden is part of the whole world and its not a surprise.

cheers
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