A Swedish prosecutor on Monday charged a man, suspected of exploiting his “vulnerable” wife to have sex with men for money, with aggravated pimping, several rapes and assault in a case implicating about 120 men.
Sweden has been shocked by the revelations and comparisons have been made to Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, whose husband Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2024 after admitting to repeatedly drugging his then-wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious.
The 62-year-old suspect, reportedly a former Hell’s Angel, was arrested in October last year after his wife reported him to police in northern Sweden. He has been held in custody since.
Photo: EPA
The man had for years made money from pressuring his wife “to perform and submit to sexual acts,” according to the charges.
The man is accused of creating online adverts, setting up meetings, keeping guard and pressuring the woman to perform sexual acts online to attract more clients.
He is also accused of using violence and threats, taking advantage of her drug addiction, as well as supplying her with drugs.
The prosecutor labeled it “ruthless exploitation.”
Sweden’s law on prostitution bans the buying of sex, but not the selling. However, it is also illegal to facilitate the sale of sex.
In addition to being charged with aggravated pimping, the man — who denies the accusations — was charged with eight rapes.
They include one incident with a client and several incidents where she was made to perform sexual acts to herself for online video.
Prosecutor Ida Annerstedt said that the woman, who was described as being in a vulnerable position, to “some extent” had “agreed to sell sex,” but she had objected to selling sex to certain people or under certain circumstances.
“There are certain boundaries she has had. When he hasn’t respected them, when he has steamrolled her after she has said ‘no,’ those are the situations when he is charged with attempted rape, or rape,” Annerstedt said.
He was also charged with four attempted rapes and four assaults.
The charges also detailed threats made to the wife, with some of them including warnings about unleashing “the monster.”
The incidents were alleged to have occurred between Aug. 11, 2022, and Oct. 21 last year.
A trial is scheduled to start on April 13.
Annerstedt said that authorities had identified about 120 people suspected of having bought sexual services. Twenty-six men have been charged over the buying of sex related to the case, and Annerstedt said the other people are being investigated.
Silvia Ingolfsdottir, a lawyer representing the woman, said that the charges resulted from the “serious and aggravated crimes” her client had been a victim of.
“She now hopes to obtain justice,” Ingolfsdottir said.
Public broadcaster SVT said that the man had previously been a high-ranking member of the Hells Angels biker group.
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