Police officer charged with raping colleague

A 26-year-old police officer from western Sweden has been charged with raping a colleague at a party in a Gothenburg apartment last summer.

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”There were loads of police officers in the flat until the early hours of the morning,” said defence lawyer Anders Lysén to daily Expressen.

A group of emergency services employees had been out on the town but as the clubs started closing they all went home to one of the female police officers to continue the party.

After a few hours, the woman reportedly felt very tired and went to bed, letting her friends continue the party without her.

However, as most of the colleagues went home, the 26-year-old allegedly lingered, and when alone, made his way to the woman's bedroom.

According to the charge sheet, he then took advantage of her state of inebriation and tiredness by grabbing her thighs and forcing himself on her.

After the act, the woman had both bruises on her thighs and some genital injuries, due to rough handling by the man.

When she woke up, she felt that something was "not right" and realized that someone had used her sexually, according to local paper Göteborgsposten.

The 26-year-old denies all rape allegations and claims that his colleague had consented to sex.

According to him, she was neither very drunk nor very tired at the time intercourse took place.

”She wasn't more inebriated than that she was in control of the situation,” said Lysén to the paper.

Any genital injuries she has reported must have been sustained during their love-making and the bruises he knows nothing about, according to his lawyer.

When questioned, at least three of the police officers' colleagues testified that the woman had been ”very tired” when they left, that she had gone to sleep before the party was over and that her claims are ”credible”.

A specialist doctor also said that the defendant must have used force when having intercourse with the woman.

However, according to his lawyer, it is the man who has suffered after the incident.

”It is not all all nice to be charged with rape when you are a police officer yourself. It is a tragic incident and very difficult for my client -- it affects his service. If he is found guilty there is a distinct risk that he will lose his job,” Lysén told the Aftonbladet newspaper

The 26-year-old is still a trainee police officer. Though still working, he was supposed to have gone on active duty, but has been given an administrative post pending the investigation.