A former employee of a treatment home for teenagers has been charged with sexual violence against three teenage girls while he worked there. The investigation is in its final stages and three cases will be submitted to the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police in the coming days.
Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
The case first surfaced one year ago. One girl who was being treated at the home reported that the man had sexually abused her and another girl who stayed there. However, the girls’ testimonies contradicted each other and the man maintained his innocence so police discontinued the investigation and the charges were dropped, ruv.is reports.
The man was transferred to a treatment home for boys until it was closed down and then he returned to his old workplace. This was confirmed by Bragi Gudbrandsson, the director of the Child Protection Agency, which operates the treatment homes.
Gudbrandsson explained that in March 2009 another girl who was being treated at the home reported that the man had sexually abused her. After charges had been filed to police, another charge was received—from the girl who originally denied having been abused by the man.
The charge from the girl who had first reported that the man had sexually abused her and the second girl was therefore reopened and police are now investigating three cases against the man.
One of the girls was under the responsibility of the Kópavogur child protection committee and Adalsteinn Sigfússon, director of social affairs in Kópavogur, has requested that the Ministry of Social Affairs launch an investigation into how the Child Protection Agency is supervising the treatment home in question.
