A migrant suspected of raping and sexually abusing a much younger girl claims that he did not know it was illegal in Sweden because no-one had told him.
The suspected sexual abuse took place in April of this year at a family home with the young girl, whose exact age has not been revealed. It is alleged she was forced to have sex with the supposedly 17-year-old migrant, newspaper Lokaltidningen reports.
When questioned, the migrant reportedly admitted that he had sex with the young girl but said that it had not been a crime and was just something that “happened between two children.”
In an Administrative court, it was argued that while the migrant did admit to the crime he was not aware of the laws regarding sexual relations and that no-one in Sweden had taught him what the laws and expected norms were.
The representative argued that the court should not proceed with a prosecution, claiming that the young man had been doing well in school and that his school progress would be harmed if he were to be prosecuted.
The court did not agree with the representative, saying that the migrant may be prosecuted for rape against a child. Investigators also revealed suspicions that the teen may actually be over 20-years-old.
Last year, the Swedish government announced a plan that became known as the “high school law” which allowed around 9,000 Afghan “children” to remain in Sweden despite reports claiming that 78 per cent of the migrants were actually adults.
The case comes after another rape case earlier this month involving seven Afghan migrant suspects and one Swedish citizen, with one of the Afghan migrants having been employed by an asylum seeker integration charity.
Last year, many on the left expressed outrage after Swedish national broadcaster SVT revealed that 58 per cent of men convicted of rapes in the previous five years had been born overseas and that number increased to 85 per cent in cases where the victim did not know the attacker beforehand.