The Office of the State Prosecutor and the sex offenses department of Reykjavík Metropolitan Police have received a large number of reports regarding child abuse since RÚV’s news magazine started its coverage of a known pedophile on January 7.

Björgvin Björgvinsson, who heads the department, told Fréttablaðið  that the number of reports had been unprecedented in his time in the position. He, along with ten other detectives, are working full-time to investigate various old and new sex offense cases.

State Prosecutor Sigríður Friðjónsdóttir said there has been such an increase in sex offenses being filed in recent years that her employees can hardly handle the workload.

“The situation is very difficult because cases are piling up and we cannot cope with processing them,” she stated. “But we have now received additional funding so that we can hire more manpower.”

The police in Akureyri have also noticed significant increase in reports of sex offences. So far this year, they have received ten reports, compared to 32 in the entire year 2012.

Nine of these cases concern child abuse and in all instances the alleged victims are adults today. “I assume that there has been accumulated need for old cases being revealed and the floodgates opened up following the recent discussions in society,” concluded senior officer Daníel Guðjónsson in an interview with ruv.is.

Click here to read more about Kastljós’s coverage and the perpetrator’s arrest.

ESA