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In five months, two Romerike soccer referees were convicted in their respective trials. One for the largest assault seizure in Norwegian history, the other for the largest assault case in Norwegian history.
It has been just over a year since the Romerike judicial community received two gigantic abuse scandals on its lap in no time.
It began with the sentence of one of Norway’s most promising soccer referees to 16 years in prison in the largest abuse case in Norwegian history, the so-called OP Sandra case.
In court, the judge, a man in his 20s, admitted to assaulting 268 teenagers and physically abusing a dozen of them.
A few months later, another Romerike soccer referee, a man in his 40s, was sentenced to four years in prison for unloading Norway’s largest seizure of abusive material.
The police found several million images of abuse on heavily encrypted hard drives. The four-year sentence was ultimately overturned due to legal ingenuity and will likely be resolved with a confession sentence and a lower sentence.
The two cases shook an entire judicial environment.
Read also: Trond travels through Norway and teaches sports teams about abuse: – Backlash often. People start laughing
– A surreal time
The online newspaper has addressed several inquiries to key individuals in the judicial community in Romerike in the hope that someone will share their experiences in this case.
It has been very demanding to get someone to comment on what happened.
But one of the people in the community agreed to report the case anonymously.
The online newspaper meets the man, whom we have chosen to call Jens, having coffee somewhere in Romerike.
He knows the two convicted judges well.
– It has been a completely surreal time, says “Jens” shaking his head slightly when we meet him.
You are considering running under your full name, but you don’t want your identity to be tied to such serious cases.
The case by which he has been involuntarily affected is very delicate, but he wants to tell his story.
He appears in the hope that there is something to learn from what he has experienced.
– A trustee for everyone in the environment.
Not in his wildest dreams did Jens suspect that his two fellow judges were involved in such cases.
– It was completely impossible to “grasp” that something was wrong, he sighs.
The two convicted soccer referees have in common that they were highly loved and respected, both privately and as whistleblowers.
– The oldest of them was a kind of mentor for the younger Romerike judges, a very sociable and stable guy. He was an adult, established and a trustee for everyone in the environment. It has probably been crucial for many to continue to judge, because it has been so inclusive, says Jens.
Read also: VIF coach sentenced to three years and six months in prison for abusing two minors under 14 years of age
The verdict against the younger of the two judges, the man who has been convicted in the OP Sandra case, contains detailed descriptions of how the then 27-year-old lived a secret double life over a long period.
– The case is incomparable
He lived in the house of one of his parents and, upon entering the door of the children’s room, he entered a mode in which the objective was to tempt or threaten children into sending sexualized photos and videos of themselves.
In all, he was convicted of assaulting 270 people, the largest assault case in Norwegian legal history.
– This case is unparalleled, said district court judge Maria Engøy Duna before reading the verdict in June 2019.
Jens shakes his head when he thinks about what his friend has done.
– You almost think it’s schizophrenia, because what happened was done by a completely different person than the boy I know. It’s completely impossible to understand that something like this could happen for so long, he says.
It is difficult for him to say if any lessons can be learned from what happened.
– The surprise came when I read the accusation and I could see the amount of abuse and what it has really done. How have you taken the time for this? He may not have slept, because the amount of abuse is quite extreme, but he has overlooked us and been very sociable the entire time. He was involved in everything, Jens remembers.
However, when you think back, there is one thing that may have been a sign that something was wrong.
Jens taps his finger on his own mobile.
This one, he kept it close.
The abuser’s phone was always in use and there was never any talk of others borrowing or viewing it.
React to lunch: – Then you should be pretty cold
In retrospect, you’ve thought a lot about whether there was something else that should have made you aware that something was wrong. But he can’t find any more signs.
However, there is one thing that really bothers you.
After a period without much contact, he arranged a lunch with the now convicted abuser.
Read also: You think that the level of punishment in child abuse cases is too low: – In the worst case, the child is destroyed for the rest of his life.
What he didn’t know was that the partner had just been released from his first custody in the case.
But not a word was said about the case when they met and had lunch.
– It is quite difficult to show up for lunch when you have been in custody just before in such a case, and even say nothing. It’s very special, so you should be pretty cold, says Jens, shaking his head.
– When the facts came to the table, do you wish I had been tougher and more honest with you and counted more at that lunch?
– Yes absolutely. Clearly. In hindsight, I am told that you have struggled a lot with who should know what. I can also understand that, in a way, it is also difficult for him. But I felt that the friendship was closer than what I got from the information. I felt that I deserved to know more than I had.
That lunch was the last time the two of them spoke together.
– Do you think you’ll forgive him at some point, or is the friendship over?
– That’s what makes me sick about this case here, there aren’t many other people I’d rather be with than the person I know. Our relationship has been characterized by good things, humor and friendship. And it will never be like that again. But if I’m willing to extend half a hand when I get out of jail, I’ll have to accept it when that time comes. In any case, it will never be the same again.
– Both convicts were part of a relatively small judicial community in Romerike. Do you think they knew each other and what they did?
– I can never imagine. I don’t think they could have taken that risk. I don’t know, but I would think not.
– What do you think then that there are two people from the same small environment who are so extreme?
– No, it’s … It’s difficult to answer. Not good.
The circuit: – Sad and serious
Anne Ringdalen is the Managing Director of NFF Akershus. She describes both cases as sad and serious.
– But we as a circle have not been very involved in these. The first case was followed by the NFF centrally and the second case concerned a person who had left as a judge with us. Also, to my knowledge, neither case has been related to his role in football, he writes in an email to Nettavisen.
Therefore, he says that the circle has largely followed these cases through the media.
– But we have discussed it both in the umpire committee and in the district board, but then with a view to what we as a district can do to ensure the best possible safe environment for our clubs and umpires. We have also had this as a topic in meetings with referees and clubs, he says.
Former elite league referee Trond Ivar Døvle is now a referee consultant at NFF Akershus. He says he has not had direct follow-up on the two convicted soccer referees, but he knows the cases.
Read also: The teacher shouts warning: – It is terrible that sport does not have an overview
It reveals that the cases have caused certain changes in the circuit.
– What we have done in the circuit is to address the issue in the judges’ meetings, so that the judges know how to act or proceed if they experience or discover such cases. In addition, we have introduced requirements for a police certificate for everyone, be they judges, sponsors, supervisors or instructors, and not just for supervisors as was the case before. That said, NIF is not completely satisfied with the police certificate scheme, so there is hope that it will change for the better, Døvle tells Nettavisen.
– Tragic
He hopes that the two cases are the last football affected.
– These cases are tragic, regardless of whether they are related to football or not, but we in football must at least do what we can to make our sport a safe ground for everyone, says Døvle.
Jens is confident in at least one thing, and that is that these cases have not damaged the reputation of the judiciary.
It just has nothing to do with football, it has calmed down.
Although he has lost one of his best friends, and still remembers many good sides of the abuser, Jens has no doubt: the 16-year sentence is correct.
– I would not have become a less wise man if I were 21 years old.
Here you can read all the cases in the series: Abuse in sport
Do you need to report sexual abuse of yourself or others? Contact the police here.
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