Will send police delegation to Gambia to investigate molested boy

Norwegian police plan to send a large delegation to Gambia to investigate first-hand the allegations that a Norwegian teacher has abused a 12-year-old boy. This is the first time Gambian police have had a boy admit he has been sexually molested.

INGER ANNE OLSEN

First time

Gambian police have long known that Western men have abused young boys in the West African nation.

"This is a very serious matter. We have never before managed to investigate such a case, so for us it is extremely important to get evidence that can secure a conviction," said press spokesman Aziz Bojang at the Gambian police headquarters in Banjul to Aftenposten.

Aftenposten wrote last week about a Norwegian teacher in his 50s who, on several holiday trips to Gambia, had stayed at a hotel with a local 12-year-old boy. The man behaved so unusually that several of the hotel guests reacted. Two Norwegian tourists notified Kripos (National Bureau of Crime Investigation) when they returned home from their holidays.

Aziz Bojang tells Aftenposten that both the boy, his parents and some of the hotel staff have been questioned.

Very strong evidence

"The interviews confirmed that there is very strong evidence against the suspect. The boy himself admitted that he had been sexually abused and that the crime took place on each of the four holidays the man has had since March last year," Bojang says.

He is very worried about what will happen to the boy now. Not only may the boy have been exposed to sexual assault, he is also in danger of being stigmatized and made an outcast in a country that absolutely refuses to excuse sex between men - even when it is a case of assault against a child.

"Homosexual acts are both against our religion and our tradition and I can only imagine how difficult things are for the boy right now. Therefore we are doing all we can to shield the boy from publicity," Aziz Bojang says.

Discreet investigation

These conditions will make it very difficult when Oslo police district sends investigators to Gambia to secure evidence. If the matter had been handled in Norway police would have questioned the school, friends and family of the injured party, but here such interviews could destroy the rest of the boy's life.

It is still not clear when the Norwegian delegation will travel to Africa.

The charged teacher has not yet requested defense counsel. In questioning he has denied assault. The man does not wish to speak to Aftenposten.

One of the Norwegian tourists that warned Kripos about the Norwegian's behavior says to Aftenposten that she warned the mayor in the local Gambian district of Kanifing as early as November because she believed sexual assault was taking place.

"But the mayor said that we had to think of the country's reputation and not do anything that could hurt tourism. So he did nothing about the matter," the woman says. When she returned home she instead informed Kripos.

Looked very sad

The teacher did not know he was under investigation and traveled back to Gambia on winter holiday in November. Also then Norwegian tourists reacted to the man's behavior. An older man holidaying with children and grandchildren at the same hotel told Aftenposten this:

"The first time I noticed the man he came leading two very small boys. I wondered very much about what was going on. Later I understood that a 12-year-old was living all the time in the man's room. Everyone noticed the two of them because they came to breakfast together every morning and the boy looked very sad. He didn't appear to be enjoying himself especially. I decided to take a picture of the man and the boy, to send to the police. But the day I was finally ready I met the man and the boy in reception, leaving. The man had been thrown out of the hotel," the Norwegian tourist says.

The hotel where the man lived is used by several of the major tour operators.

Information chief for MyTravel in Northern Europe, Susanne Krutrök, says Swedish tourists with (tour operator) Ving were responsible for having the man ejected from the hotel.

"They saw a neighbor acting strangely and contacted our guide. The guide asked the hotel owner to tighten supervision because the man's behavior was unacceptable and not in keeping with the contract MyTravel had with the hotel. Since the Norwegian man was not our guest the guide did no more," says Susanne Krutrök.

Even if sexual assaults of young boys have not been investigated in Gambia, police have had several cases where girls have been sexually molested.

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