'Pocket Man' stays mum
The 55-year-old Norwegian man suspected of molesting hundreds of young boys for more than 30 years refused to respond to police questions over the weekend. His high-profile defense attorney stirred a storm of controversy for trying to downplay the sexual assaults, and has since apologized. Defense attorney Tor Erling Staff ultimately apologized to any children he offended. PHOTO: TERJE BENDIKSBY / SCANPIX Government minister Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen reacted angrily after Staff downplayed his client's alleged assaults. She stressed that all such attacks must be taken seriously, as well as the children reporting them. PHOTO: Heiko Junge / SCANPIX |
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Defense attorney Tor Erling Staff found himself having to fend off verbal attacks, an organized text message campaign against him and angry reaction from public officials after he suggested that his client merely had "fiddled with" his victims.
The suspect is known as the "Pocket Man" because he asked boys to put their hands into his trouser pockets and thus lured them into touching his penis. He often then forced them to perform oral sex as well. He carried out his assaults over a period of more than 30 years without getting caught.
Police in Bergen finally arrested him on Friday after first having searched his home and secured DNA evidence that matched evidence tied to reported assaults.
Staff was quickly appointed as the "Pocket Man's" defense attorney. He enraged child protection advocates, victims' parents and many others when he suggested over the weekend that the assaults amounted to "peanuts ."
"This is about fiddling with boys and sexual relations with boys that are too young, but it's not all that serious," Staff claimed. He added that "these boys wouldn't be hurt by it, in my opinion... " if the police hadn't turned it into such a huge case.
That inflamed Norway's government minister in charge of family and children's issues, Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen. She's a lawyer herself, and said she "couldn't believe" that Staff would make such remarks. Other lawyers supported Ramin-Osmundsen, claiming that any sort of sexual assault must be taken seriously and that children must not think they're to blame in any way.
One lawyer charged that Staff had "no respect" for the boys. He ultimately apologized on national television Sunday night, at least partially, addressing it only to boys who really felt victimized by his client.
Staff brushed off a storm of telephone calls and text messages coming in from Norwegians angered by his remarks, saying they had as much right to express their opinions as he did. A professor at the University of Bergen noted that it's his job as a defense attorney to try to downplay the degree of a client's offenses.
The "Pocket Man" is being held in protective custody at Norway's most high-security prison, Ila, outside Oslo. He has refused to undergo questioning or appear at a scheduled custody hearing on Monday.
Nina Berglund
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