It was between December 7 last year and February 15 this year that five different prostitutes were subjected to abuse and robbery in the Stockholm area, according to the indictment submitted by prosecutor Anders Hirsch to the Solna District Court.
Two of the women were subjected to aggravated rape and threatened with a knife. A "modus" that, according to Anders Hirsch, has been recurring in the crimes.
Some form of weapon was used in all instances. As appears from the indictment, it was a knife in four cases and a pistol-like object in one case, says Anders Hirsch.
Stemmed meeting
The man is said to have come into contact with the women through various prostitution and escort sites. After establishing contact, he allegedly went to meet the different women, according to Anders Hirsch.
He was arrested in February and has since been detained. According to Anders Hirsch, the investigation has "grown over time".
In the beginning of the case, we did not know that there were as many as five plaintiffs, initially it was only a smaller number. Then it became more over time.
One had a phone number to start from, which had been used by this man, and with that number as a starting point, one could track him down.
The man denies all the crimes.
Similar cases have been prosecuted
During the year, several cases where prostitutes were subjected to robbery and abuse have been highlighted. In February, a 29-year-old man was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for aggravated robbery and attempted aggravated robbery against prostitutes.
According to the verdict, he made contact with the women under the pretext of buying sex, only to rob them of cash and valuables under pistol and knife threats.
In April, a 16-year-old boy was also sentenced to closed youth care for aggravated rape, buying sex, and two cases of robbery of prostitutes.
