'Snippa' retrial: Swedish appeals court finds man guilty of raping child
A Swedish appeals court has sentenced a man to three years in jail for raping a 10-year-old girl, in a high profile retrial after it initially cleared him of the charge.
When Sweden’s appeals court in February last year overturned the district court's guilty verdict in a child rape case over the meaning of snippa, a child’s word for a vagina, it caused huge public outrage.
Despite agreeing with the district court that the man, in his 50s, had touched the 10-year-old between her legs and inserted his finger into her snippa, the appeals court at the time found that it could not be determined whether the girl was referring to her vulva or to her vagina.
If the man had inserted his finger into her vagina, that would have met the standard to be classified as rape. But because the girl said that his finger was “far in”, but could not state exactly how far, the appeals court in the original verdict found that it could not establish beyond doubt that the man had inserted his finger in her vagina and not her vulva. It therefore cleared the man of the charge.
The Supreme Court, the top court in the country, ruled in November last year that the appeals court had committed a miscarriage of justice in not considering a lower-grade charge such as sexual abuse or molestation, which it is possible the incident could have been classified as, and sent the case back to the appeals court for retrial.
In the retrial, however, the appeals court instead of convicting the man of a lower-grade charge, upheld the district court's original verdict and on Wednesday sentenced him to three years for two counts of child rape. It also ordered him to pay 140,000 kronor in damages to the girl, now 13 years old.
"It has been established by the complainant's statements that [he] intentionally carried out the acts specified in the descriptions of the offences and that on both occasions he had his finger in her vagina," the court writes in documents seen by The Local.
"This means that [he] subjected the complainant for sexual acts which, in light of the severity of the accusations, are comparable to sexual intercourse. [He] is thus guilty of rape against a child."
The man has until April 3rd, 2024, to appeal.
Comments
See Also
When Sweden’s appeals court in February last year overturned the district court's guilty verdict in a child rape case over the meaning of snippa, a child’s word for a vagina, it caused huge public outrage.
Despite agreeing with the district court that the man, in his 50s, had touched the 10-year-old between her legs and inserted his finger into her snippa, the appeals court at the time found that it could not be determined whether the girl was referring to her vulva or to her vagina.
If the man had inserted his finger into her vagina, that would have met the standard to be classified as rape. But because the girl said that his finger was “far in”, but could not state exactly how far, the appeals court in the original verdict found that it could not establish beyond doubt that the man had inserted his finger in her vagina and not her vulva. It therefore cleared the man of the charge.
The Supreme Court, the top court in the country, ruled in November last year that the appeals court had committed a miscarriage of justice in not considering a lower-grade charge such as sexual abuse or molestation, which it is possible the incident could have been classified as, and sent the case back to the appeals court for retrial.
In the retrial, however, the appeals court instead of convicting the man of a lower-grade charge, upheld the district court's original verdict and on Wednesday sentenced him to three years for two counts of child rape. It also ordered him to pay 140,000 kronor in damages to the girl, now 13 years old.
"It has been established by the complainant's statements that [he] intentionally carried out the acts specified in the descriptions of the offences and that on both occasions he had his finger in her vagina," the court writes in documents seen by The Local.
"This means that [he] subjected the complainant for sexual acts which, in light of the severity of the accusations, are comparable to sexual intercourse. [He] is thus guilty of rape against a child."
The man has until April 3rd, 2024, to appeal.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.