Policeman 'did not act as girlfriend's pimp'

A police officer in Gothenburg has been cleared of pimping charges by the Court of Appeal. He was previously cleared of the same charges by Gothenburg District Court earlier this year but his former girlfriend appealed the verdict.

• Psychiatrist had sex with patient during therapy (11 Feb 12)
• Two Swedes arrested for sex crimes in New York (9 Feb 12)
• Girl to friend: 'I think I've got a knife in my throat' (7 Feb 12)

The man, formerly a member of a Gothenburg anti-vice squad, was accused by ex-girlfriend Rosinha Sambo of trying to earn money by selling her sexual services from his bedroom.

It was not the first time that the prostitute and the policeman had met in court. After their first period together in 2002, Sambo accused the officer of beating and threatening her.

He won the subsequent court case, first in the district court, then in the appeals court. Later, when the dust had settled, they got back together again.

After they had gone their separate ways a second time Sambo claimed that she had received customers in the policeman's bedroom while he was out. In return she paid him a monthly lump sum out of her income from prostitution.

"He gave me many hopes for the future. If I have feelings for a man then I don't want to have sex with others. But he wanted me to have sex with customers in front of him," Sambo told the district court in February.

The policeman denied exploiting Sambo's prostitution for financial gain. He claimed not to have been aware that she was working from his bedroom, despite admitting to joining in on one occasion when Sambo was having sex with a customer.

"That's how she wanted it and I went along," he said.

He also denied Sambo's accusation that he regularly stood behind a wardrobe watching while she had sex with customers.

She claimed in the initial court hearing that their relationship finally came to an end with her breaking the windows of his car and screaming that she was sick of having sex while he stood there masturbating.

In 2003, Rosinha Sambo became the first prostitute in Sweden to be officially recognized as a self-employed worker. But as soon as she paid her first tax bill she reported the Swedish state to the police for accepting money from a prostitute.

"That is the same as accepting money from the clients and, in my opinion, the same as pimping and receiving," she told The Associated Press at the time.

Since 1999 it has been illegal in Sweden for customers to pay for sex. Prostitutes however are not barred from selling the services that are illegal to buy.