Top cop jailed for sex crimes

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.

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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.