'Sex chamber' rapist gets five years in prison
The 47-year-old charged with kidnapping a woman and keeping her prisoner in an underground sex chamber in western Sweden was sentenced to 5 years in prison on Monday.
The man is alleged to have subjected his victim to sexual torture in the cellar of an abandoned farmhouse north of Halmstad, in western Sweden.
The woman, now in her thirties, came forward when the secret sex chamber was discovered by two amateur photographers earlier this spring.
The hidden underground lair was found to contain handcuffs and a collection of sex toys, as well as a bed fitted out with an elaborate set of harnesses and ropes that could have been used to hold people against their will.
During the trial it became clear that the 47-year-old had abducted the woman from a highway service station in the municipality of Varberg in 2005, first taking her to a barn and later to the abandoned house.
Once down in the cellar of the house the woman was allegedly handcuffed and chained.
The man then repeatedly whipped her and subjected her to aggravated sexual abuse. He then left her alone for hours, bound and naked.
On Monday, the 47-year-old, who repeatedly denied the charges, was sentenced by the Halmstad district court to five years for aggravated rape and abduction.
The court also ruled that the man will pay 227,600 kronor ($35,181) plus interest in damages to the woman.
According to defense lawyer Leif Silbersky, the man will appeal the verdict.
"He has assumed that she was willing. Then it is possible, of course, that she has changed her mind afterwards," said Silbersky to news agency TT after the verdict.
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The man is alleged to have subjected his victim to sexual torture in the cellar of an abandoned farmhouse north of Halmstad, in western Sweden.
The woman, now in her thirties, came forward when the secret sex chamber was discovered by two amateur photographers earlier this spring.
The hidden underground lair was found to contain handcuffs and a collection of sex toys, as well as a bed fitted out with an elaborate set of harnesses and ropes that could have been used to hold people against their will.
During the trial it became clear that the 47-year-old had abducted the woman from a highway service station in the municipality of Varberg in 2005, first taking her to a barn and later to the abandoned house.
Once down in the cellar of the house the woman was allegedly handcuffed and chained.
The man then repeatedly whipped her and subjected her to aggravated sexual abuse. He then left her alone for hours, bound and naked.
On Monday, the 47-year-old, who repeatedly denied the charges, was sentenced by the Halmstad district court to five years for aggravated rape and abduction.
The court also ruled that the man will pay 227,600 kronor ($35,181) plus interest in damages to the woman.
According to defense lawyer Leif Silbersky, the man will appeal the verdict.
"He has assumed that she was willing. Then it is possible, of course, that she has changed her mind afterwards," said Silbersky to news agency TT after the verdict.
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