Severe penalty for sexual assaults against own child

In the Court of Appeal, a man was sentenced to eight years and three months of imprisonment for sexual assaults against his daughter. The assaults started when she turned eight, and continued until she was eleven and a half. On two occasions, he had intercourse with her. In total, at least 175 assualts were committed.

The man believed that the sentence was too severe and appealed to the Supreme Court.  

The Supreme Court noted that cases where a closely related caregiver, through exploitation of trust, regularly committed assaults against a child, must be severely penalty. The penalty level was increased by the Storting both in 2000 and in 2010. Today, the penalty for aggravated sexual assault involving intercourse with a child under the age of 14 is three to 21 years of imprisonment. Key factors in such cases are the severity of the assault and the child’s age, and the number and duration of the assaults. 

Following an individual assessment, the appropriate starting point for the sentence was determined to be nine years of imprisonment. This was then reduced by approximately 20 percent due to the convicted person’s confession to most of the assaults during the initial police interview. Confessions are particularly important in such cases, as they help resolve the case and the aggrieved person can be reassured that his or her account is believed. As a result, the penalty was set at seven years and two months of imprisonment.  

Read the judgment from the Supreme Court (Norwegian only) (PDF)

Key paragraphs: 17, 21, 25–26

Area of law: Criminal law. Sentencing. 

Justices: Matheson, Thyness, Stenvik, Sivertsen, Lund