Frosta, the smallest municipality in the Norwegian county of Trøndelag, is best known as a foundation of Norway’s legal system since Viking times. Now it’s being challenged by a huge lawsuit against its own former local doctor, who’s been indicted with raping 88 patients over a period of nearly 20 years.
The victims of former doctor Arne Bye may number nearly twice that, or more, since Bye also secretly filmed his gynecological examinations of at least 159 women over the past eight years. Police have described the more than 6,000 hours of video material seized at his home as “sensitive and detailed,” and documenting prodecures that police define as rape.
Bye lost both his medical authorization and his job when he was initially charged last year with 34 rapes. He denies the charges against him, writing in a letter to state health authorities that he filmed his examinations in order to produce evidence that he did not “exceed the boundaries” applying to doctors.
Prosecutors in Trøndelag disagree. Newspaper Aftenposten has reported that the first warnings about Bye came as early as 2006 from another doctor in the gynecology ward at the local hospital in nearby Levanger. One of Bye’s patients, at the hospital for further treatment, had reported that her primary care physician had massaged her genital area during an examination, and that other patients had experienced the same. Bye denied any such massages at the time and was allowed to continue in his post until police charges were filed in 2023. Police had started investigating in August 2022 after finally being alerted by state health authorities about possible criminal acts.
Prosecutors now say the oldest complaint against Bye, age 55, dates back to 2004, when he allegedly had sexual contact with a patient unable to fend off his advances. Several of his former patients contend they were placed in a gynecological chair in a manner that made it difficult for them to follow his procedures. The most recent complaint in the indictment handed down this week is from 2022.
Frosta Mayor Frode Revhaug of the Conservative Party told TV2 that the case is difficult for many, “especially those who have been subject” to the charges against a former community doctor who held a trusted role. The trial is due to begin in early November and run for 16 months, because of the number of victims involved. Revhaug told state broadcaster NRK that he’s glad the trial will begin soon, “and that we can get a clarification of all this.”
Bye has continued to deny guilt but been reluctant to subject himself to questioning until now. State broadcaster NRK reported on Wednesday that he will undergo questioning next week, when he’s also likely to formally state his position on the charges against him. His defense attorney, Erlend Hjulstad Nilsen, said Bye understands that the indictment is “extremely serious and very thorough.” He said he felt a need to stress that his client must continue to be viewed as innocent until proven guilty.
Legal experts say the case is unique and historic given the number of alleged rape victims and because it involves a public sector employee charged with misuse of his position. A total of 96 women are among the formal plaintiffs.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
