A doctor facing a long list of serious criminal charges including sexual assault denied guilt on most of them as his trial got underway this week in Hamar, Hedmark County.
The 39-year-old, once-respected anesthesiologist was arrested after police found him in possession of child pornography, storage of confidential patient records at his home and mobile telephone records with compromising photos and text messages involving scores of young girls and grown men.
He is also charged with assaulting a 13-year-old patient while she was under anesthesia, which carries penalties similar to rape. Police claim that 14 men met his extortion claims, paying him a total of NOK 586,000, while he tried to extort 21 other men for a total of 2.2 million.
The doctor has admitted to much of the extortion, after police said he collected sexually suggestive photos of young girls, then sent them to the men and threatened to report them to police when they responded. He claims he had no sexual motive himself, though, rather that he simply needed the money even though he earned more than NOK 1 million a year.
Views and News staff
