The Pocket Man
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"The Pocket Man" (in Norwegian "Lommemannen") is the name given to a Norwegian sexual predator by the Norwegian police and media. The man who has been at large since 1976, has been charged with committing sex crimes against minors throughout Southern Norway. "The Pocket Man" might have lured boys in numerous localities and has by some been characterized as a classical serial criminal. The last known incident of the Pocket Man took place in Skjolden in Luster on June 14, 2006. The police have registered about 160 cases, of which one may be considered rape. The police allege that several occurrences also have not been reported. The identity of "The Pocket Man" was unknown to the police until, after several years of investigation, they identified a 55 year old man from Bergen who was arrested and indicted as the perpetrator on January 11, 2008.

"The Pocket Man" was during one period of the investigations known as "The Bandage Man", first time in a case from Bergen in 1980. The police realized that this was the same offender in the autumn of 2007.

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Contents

Offenses

Mode of operation

The modus operandi of "The Pocket Man" was the same in all known cases: The perpetrator tricked young boys to touch his genitals, for instance by tricking them to "search for" a key in his pocket, where he had removed or cut a hole in the lining, or to adjust a bandage on his thigh. The more serious offense or offenses he is to have committed includes oral sex,[1] which in some cases border on the Norwegian criminal code's definition of rape.[2]. The police allege that "The Pocket Man" on several occasions forced the boys to perform oral sex on him. Oral sex is equated with intercourse in the Norwegian penal code and has an upper limit of 21 years in prison, the maximum sentencing in Norway.[3] The police have later informed that the most serious case has an upper limit of 15 years.[4]

Other commons traits[5] of the cases are:

  • All victims were young boys aged between 6 and 12 years. Little girls were only employed as lookouts.
  • Dark-skinned victims are in clearly overrepresented.
  • Both "The Pocket Man" and "The Bandage Man" are said to have paid the victims after their offenses.
  • Various tricks were employed to lure the children.

Time

The first assault known to the police as of January 2008, took place in Åsane, Bergen[6] in the latter half of 1976. During the first years the perpetrator is said to have lured children by asking them to help change a bandage in intimate places, and he was named "The Bandage Man".[7] DNA evidence procured in 2007 revealed that "The Bandage Man" was also active in Oslo. The police therefore concluded that "The Bandage Man" and "The Pocket Man" were one and the same person.[5]

As early as 1983 or 84 "The Pocket Man" made an attempt against two boys at Garnes in Bergen. The boys ran away.[8]

On November 27, 1994 "The Pocket Man" struck at a kindergarten at Søndre Nordstrand, Oslo. As of January 2008 this is the earliest known offense by "The Pocket Man" in Oslo. Throughout the 1990s all known offenses in Oslo took place during weekends, and other offenses all took place in Bergen (the distance between Oslo and Bergen is about 500 kilometers). Starting in 2000 this pattern began to change: Incidents were no longer recorded in the Bergen area. During the subsequent years the incidents were limited to the Oslo region, until 2003 when a tendency was noticed of offenses appearing in other localities throughout Southern Norway,[9] in 2003 the person is alleged to have been both at Quality Hotel and Badeland in Sarpsborg.[10] Two incidents took place on July 13, 2002 in Sarons dal in Kvinesdal and at Hamresanden camping in Kristiansand on July 12, 2003.[11]

In January 2005 another incident took place in Sauda,[12] whereas an incident involving two victims took place in a swimming hall in Skjolden on July 14, 2006.[13] In October 2007 it became known that also Swedish police were investigating whether "The Pocket Man" was behind an offense at Svinesund.[1]

Investigation

Separate investigations before coordination

Police in Norway currently lack a centralized computer system which is able to reveal similarities between individual cases.[14] "The Pocket Man's" offenses against young boys had all been registered as independent cases.[14] Just by accident, an investigator discovered in 2003 there were several conjoined cases.[14]

The police in Ski outside Oslo were given the task of initiating a more comprehensive investigation of the itinerant serial criminal in 2003.[14] They began a cumbersome re-evaluation of the 70 registered cases from other police districts. The Ski police discovered that the evidence was basically quite flimsy, there was for instance a lack of such essentials as interrogations.[15] In May 2004 the police were nowhere near a solution to the case, and the investigation was at that time closed down.

A new team which will be working exclusively on "The Pocket Man" was established in the first two weeks of 2008 in Bergen, where investigators believe the entire case may have begun.[16] During the same period new tips arrived for this team of previously undisclosed incidents.[2]

DNA evidence

Police secured genetic fingerprinting of several crime scenes, including one incident in Trondheim, where "The Pocket Man" had been photographed by a surveillance camera on September 6, 2003.[17] DNA testing also showed that "The Bandage Man" and "The Pocket Man" were the same person.[5]

A DNA sample located in the Norwegian Institute of Forensic Medicine taken of biological matter from a sexual offense case in 1995 revealed through a renewed analysis in 2007 that the sample originated from "The Pocket Man".[18] Technically it was unfeasible to analyse the evidence in 1995, but it was stored for later analyses.[18]

Tips and names of actual men

In connection with two incidents, one in Moss in 1995, and one in Bergen in 1997, "The Pocket Man" himself stated that, "I am from Moss".[19] Kripos (Norway's centralized crime investigation bureau for serious crime) believed in October of 2007 that several named men from Oslo or Østlandet could possibly be "The Pocket Man".[9] In connection with an incident in July 1999 at Nattland, "The Pocket Man" however used an expression typical of the Bergen region,[20] and Kripos obtained DNA samples from four individuals from the Bergen area in the autumn of 2007.[21]

Apprehension

There are DNA matches in only five cases so far, and in those five cases he is the perpetrator

—Police advocate Jorid Kile Berg to Aftenposten.no [1]

Early in the morning of January 11, 2008, in Bergen, the police apprehended the man whom they believe to be "The Pocket Man".[22] A previously unpunished man in his fifties was apprehended.[22] The man was taken subsequent to a DNA match. The police have announced that the man has left DNA evidence in five cases, and they have identified him via a video recording. On January 14 a court ruled that he would be placed in detention for four weeks with mail and visitors control restrictions,[23]. His defense attorney is Tor Erling Staff.

Before the apprehension a secret search was conducted in the person's house.[24] One precondition for such a procedure is the offense has punishment limit of more than 10 years. Because the Norwegian criminal code equates oral sex and intercourse, the case has a punishement limit of 21 years, and hence the police were able to conduct a secret search.[25]

It is not known whether secret searches have been conducted on the up to 639,000 Norwegian men which were born between 1950 and 1970 which were analysed on the background of electronic evidence. Nor is it known whether at any time they were informed that they had been exposed to such electronic investigation.[26]

During later searches the police have allowed journalists to photograph impounded material from the house of the charged individual.[27]

Some have expressed the sentiment that the use of the terms "The Pocket Man" and "The Bandage Man" could give the impression that the offenses were of a less serious nature.citation needed Several newspapers are using the expression "The man charged with being The Pocket Man" about the apprehended man in order to avoid pre-judging him.citation needed

Trial

Change of lawyer

In early May it was reported[28] that the suspect had replaced his lawyer. His former lawyer, Tor Erling Staff had advised him not to talk to the police. His new lawyer, Gunhild Lærum, recently defended a teacher of similar crimes, and in that case the defendant gave a full explanation of his doings. The suspect will remain in custody until June 9th.

References

  1. ^ a b Dagbladet: Lommemannen jages i Sverige (Norwegian)
  2. ^ a b VG: Nye «Lommemannen»-tips i jula (Norwegian)
  3. ^ Verdens Gang: - Uforståelig angst for det seksuelle (Norwegian)
  4. ^ Aftenposten: Fant flere beviser mot «Lommemannen» (Norwegian)
  5. ^ a b c VG: Intens jakt på «Lommemannens» første offer (Norwegian)
  6. ^ Bergensavisen: Etterlyser de tre første ofrene (Norwegian)
  7. ^ Dagsavisen: Må ta Lommemannen innen seks måneder (Norwegian)
  8. ^ Bergensavisen: Her traff vi bandasjemannen (Norwegian)
  9. ^ a b Aftenposten: Navngitte menn i søkelyset (Norwegian)
  10. ^ Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad: Frykter lommemannen vil "røre på seg igjen" (Norwegian)
  11. ^ Fædrelandsvennen: «Lommemannen» var på Sørlandet (Norwegian)
  12. ^ Nettavisen: Nytt spor i «lommemann»-saken (Norwegian)
  13. ^ VG: Ferieturen på Vestlandet endte i tragedie: Sønnene misbrukt av «lommemannen» (Norwegian)
  14. ^ a b c d Aftenposten: De oppdaget Lommemannen (Norwegian)
  15. ^ NRK: Lommemannen kunne vært tatt (Norwegian)
  16. ^ Aftenposten: De oppdaget Lommemannen (Norwegian)
  17. ^ Stavanger Aftenblad: DNA-treff i jakten på lommemannen (Norwegian)
  18. ^ a b Aftenposten: Politiet nærmer seg «Lommemannen» (Norwegian)
  19. ^ Dagbladet: Kripos tror «Lommemannen» kan bo i Moss (Norwegian)
  20. ^ Bergensavisen: Lommemannen røpet seg på Nattland (Norwegian)
  21. ^ Bergensavisen: Politiet tror Lommemannen er bergenser (Norwegian)
  22. ^ a b Bergens Tidende: Lommemannen tatt i Bergen (Norwegian)
  23. ^ Aftenposten: - Orker ikke lese aviser (Norwegian)
  24. ^ Aftenposten: Sikret DNA-bevis under hemmelig ransaking (Norwegian)
  25. ^ Justis- og politidepartementet: NOU 2004: 6; Mellom effektivitet og personvern – Politimetoder i forebyggende øyemed, 7.7.4 Hemmelig ransaking (Norwegian)
  26. ^ Aftenposten: –Du blir besatt av tanken på hvem han er (Norwegian)
  27. ^ Dagbladet: - Han hentet oss i Porsche og hadde en pistol i hanskerommet (Norwegian)
  28. ^ Torgersen, Hans O.; Stein, Catherine (May 2, 2008). "Pedophile "Pocket Man" dumps his lawyer", Aftenposten. Retrieved on 2008-05-03. 

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