Norwegian royal charged with rape; police say victim count in double digits
The eldest son of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit and stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, Marius Borg Høiby is facing charges of multiple counts of rape, sexual assault and bodily harm.
The charges come after a month-long investigation following Høiby's multiple arrests in 2024. Oslo Police Attorney Andreas Kruszewski confirmed that the number of victims is in the "double-digits."
Kruszewski said the charges include one case of rape with intercourse, two cases of rape without intercourse, four cases of sexual assault and two cases of bodily harm, the Associated Press reported. Kruszewski also reportedly said that 28-year-old Høiby was cooperative during police questioning.
The Oslo Police District put out a statement saying that they carried out a "thorough investigation", with a "large number of witness interviews, several searches and a review of extensive digital material," according to a BBC translation.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Høiby's attorney, Petar Sekulic, for comment, but according to multiple reports he said that his client does not acknowledge any wrongdoing, particularly in the cases involving sexual abuse and violence.
Several outlets also reported that the Royal House of Norway said that the case was proceeding through the legal system and it had nothing to offer, though the palace has not yet replied to Fox News Digital.
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
More states are tracking rape kits. But key support for survivors may be slipping away.
A swab sample from a crime scene rests on a forensic evidence bag — one piece of evidence that may be included in a rape kit, along with items such as clothing, photos of injuries and bodily fluids. At least 37 states and Washington, D.C., have established or committed to establishing rape kit tracking systems that allow survivors to monitor the status of their kits. (Photo by Tek Image/Science Photo Library via Getty Images) After years of pressure over lost or untested sexual assault kits, a growing number of states are adopting systems to track the kits — giving survivors a way to follow their evidence through the justice process. But despite nearly $400 million in federal support since 2015, backlogs persist, and some states still lack basic oversight. And now, advocates fear such financial support is on shaky ground. There are an estimated 49,248 untested kits across the country, according to data collected by the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group. Although the exact number of backlogged kits nationwide is unknown, a 2022 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service that summarized existing research found backlog estimates ranging from 90,000 to 400,000 kits. After a sexual assault, a survivor may choose to undergo a forensic exam, during which a trained health care professional collects evidence over the course of several hours. That evidence — which may include clothing, photos of injuries, blood, urine and DNA samples — is compiled into what's commonly known as a rape kit or sexual assault kit. The kit is then sent to a crime lab for further testing. Test results are sometimes returned to investigators who check for DNA matches in national or state databases. A match could connect the case to other sexual assaults or link a suspect to another crime. But processing a single kit can take days, months or even years, depending on when they are submitted and how much other work crime labs have. In some states, there are no laws requiring law enforcement to send rape kits to a lab within a specific time frame or mandating how quickly those kits must be tested. Survivors are often left in the dark. They may not know if their kit was tested, whether a suspect was identified, or if their case is moving forward. That silence — the uncertainty about what happened to the kit — has long been the norm in many parts of the country. 'We have betrayed at least a generation of survivors in the way that the criminal justice system and the larger public have responded to sexual assault,' said Rachel Lovell, an associate professor of criminology and the director of the Criminology Research Center at Cleveland State University. Lovell has conducted extensive research on the impact of untested rape kits in Ohio. The goal of tracking systems is straightforward: bring transparency to a process that for decades left survivors without answers. These systems allow victims to log in and track the status of their kits — from collection to testing to storage — and offer law enforcement agencies a tool to identify and prevent testing backlogs, and strengthen criminal investigations. At least 37 states and Washington, D.C., have established or committed to establishing a rape kit tracking system, according to the End the Backlog website run by the Joyful Heart Foundation. The foundation supports survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. Two more states — New Jersey and Pennsylvania — announced plans this year to build their own tracking systems. In New Jersey, a new law gives the attorney general's office until Aug. 1 to set up the tracking system. Pennsylvania officials are preparing to launch a statewide inventory of kits to better understand the scope of the backlog before developing their system. A handful of other states have also enacted or are considering legislation to support their sexual assault kit tracking programs. In Arizona, for example, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill into law in May requiring all police departments in the state to use a system called 'Track-Kit.' The new law primarily affects the Phoenix Police Department, which opted out of using the system in 2016. That department is expected to launch the platform later this year. At the federal level, support for kit testing and tracking has often come from the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, or SAKI, which has awarded nearly $400 million to 96 grantees, including local and state agencies, across 44 states since 2015. But the program's future has not always been certain. In January, the federal Office of Management and Budget had listed the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative as a program whose funding would be frozen, before walking back the widespread freeze amid legal challenges. President Donald Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would maintain funding for the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative at $51.5 million, according to a new report from the nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice. But a separate round of federal Department of Justice grant cuts in April has raised concerns about the stability of broader support services for survivors. That round of cuts affected a variety of grant programs, including domestic violence shelters, trauma counseling, legal assistance and hospital advocacy. The timing is especially concerning, advocates say, as victims of crime face growing obstacles to accessing state-provided support. In many states, victims seeking financial compensation encounter long delays, burdensome paperwork or are disqualified entirely by narrow eligibility rules. In jurisdictions that have worked to clear their backlogs, testing sexual assault kits has helped identify serial offenders, solve cold cases and connect assaults or other crimes to the same perpetrator. Nationwide, testing supported by the federal Sexual Assault Kit Initiative has contributed to at least 1,538 convictions. Still, these types of crimes are vastly underreported to police. Rapes and sexual assaults are notoriously difficult to investigate and prosecute, said Lovell, of Cleveland State University. But testing all rape kits can reveal patterns of criminal behavior over time and provide deeper insight into how, when and to whom these crimes are happening — ultimately helping improve support and case outcomes for survivors. 'By prosecuting sex offenders, you can also work to address violent crime more generally and solve past or future crimes with the addition of evidence and DNA,' Lovell told Stateline. In her research on untested rape kits in Ohio, Lovell has found that since 2015 — when the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative launched — cases overseen by the Cleveland Police Department have been more likely to move forward in the investigative and prosecutorial process, with fewer being labeled as unfounded. Police reports, she said, also have become more detailed and trauma informed. The initiative itself may not be the sole reason for these changes, Lovell said. Other factors, such as departmental policy changes or officer training, may also have played a role. Although SAKI grants remain one of the primary sources of support for testing backlogged kits and building tracking systems, communities may face challenges sustaining progress once the federal dollars run out. Capt. Tim Hegarty, division commander of the Office of Professional Standards at the Glynn County Police Department in Georgia, said local agencies must push through potential funding cuts. 'It falls back on agencies to do the job that they say they're going to do, even when the money has dried up,' Hegarty said in an interview. 'Doesn't matter who's in the [presidential] administration.' Hegarty added that many departments across the country are still catching up when it comes to interviewing victims with sensitivity and investigating sex crimes. 'Law enforcement really has not advanced a great deal when it comes to dealing with these types of crimes,' Hegarty said. 'It's not the universal language when it comes to policing across the country.' Other states are looking to strengthen existing programs through new oversight measures and stricter processing timelines. Maine is one of the 11 states without a statewide rape kit tracking system. But state lawmakers are considering a bill that would create one and require law enforcement agencies and the state's crime lab to inventory and test backlogged kits. The bill passed the House in mid-June and is currently under consideration by the Senate Appropriations Committee. In Colorado, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill in early June aimed at improving the state's capacity to process sexual assault kits. The new law establishes the Colorado Sexual Assault Forensic Medical Evidence Review Board, which will evaluate the state's medical, legal and criminal responses to sexual assault. The governor and attorney general have until Aug. 1 to appoint board members. A preliminary report is due to lawmakers by Dec. 15. The law also strengthens oversight of kit processing timelines. Law enforcement agencies must now provide survivors with updates on the status of their kits every 90 days. It also sets a new 60-day goal for crime labs to process forensic medical evidence, shortening the current 90-day goal. As of May 31, 1,324 kits were backlogged, with an estimated testing turnaround time of about a year and a half, according to the state's dashboard. Alaska, which launched its statewide rape kit tracking system in 2023, considered a bill this year that would have expedited processing timelines for sexual assault kits. The bill passed the House without opposition but failed to advance through the Senate before the legislative session ended in May. Although the number of untested kits has significantly declined since the state began inventorying them in 2017, 254 kits remained untested at the state's crime lab in 2024 — up from 113 the previous year but well below the 3,484 recorded in 2017. In Georgia, lawmakers considered a similar bill that would have established new rules for collecting, testing and tracking evidence from sexual assault kits. The bill did not advance before the legislature adjourned in April. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported in December that 2,298 kits were tested between July 2023 and June 2024, with 480 kits still awaiting testing. Another 1,612 older cases submitted before 1999 were flagged for DNA testing, of which 837 had been tested as of June 2024. Stateline, a States Newsroom affiliated, produced this story. Stateline reporter Amanda Hernández can be reached at ahernandez@
CNN
11 hours ago
- CNN
She helped Texas close a loophole preventing sexual assault survivors from getting justice. Why can't more states get it done?
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article contains discussion of sexual assault that may be distressing for some readers. Summer Willis looked down at her bloody hands and knees after crawling for 22 hours on her way to the Texas Capitol to advocate for a change in state sexual assault law. She had set out at 4 a.m. on that cold February day to crawl the length of the entire Austin Marathon, a melding of performance art and activism, but this was the most agonizing physical pain the mother of two had ever experienced. She made it an excruciating 13 miles. Exhausted, she looked across the street and realized she was standing directly across from the site where she said she was raped 10 years ago at a University of Texas at Austin fraternity party. Prosecutors say what happened to her would likely not legally have been considered sexual assault because of a state loophole: she accepted the drink she was handed at that party – which she believes was laced – before she was raped by another person. At issue was how Texas sexual assault law outlined lack of consent. It did not specifically include victims who have been voluntarily intoxicated, making their cases nearly impossible to prosecute. 'After 10 years, I finally gave myself permission to stand up,' Willis said, deciding to run the remainder of the marathon. 'I stood up and I said, I'm not going to finish this how I anticipated it, but I am going to finish it.' And she did. The long-standing loophole that prevented Willis and other sexual assault survivors from getting justice in court was closed with the passage of the Summer Willis Act, which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed on June 20. The law expands the definition of consent and clearly outlines sexual assault to include cases in which a victim 'cannot consent because of intoxication or impairment by any substance.' 'I'll never get justice from this bill. It's not retroactive, but I know that every victim from the day of the signing … won't have to be told it doesn't count,' Willis said. Two years before she crawled to the Capitol, Willis decided to start running marathons – some with a mattress on her back – not to change laws, but to bolster her own healing after years of living with the long shadow of trauma the attack cast on her life. 'I was looking at my beautiful boys' faces, and I was like, 'I want to be the woman that I used to believe I could be for you guys, someone who's strong, and confident and whole.'' Her organization, Strength Through Strides, has now raised tens of thousands of dollars for sexual assault survivors, she says. 'I know that every victim from the day of the signing … won't have to be told it doesn't count.' Summer Willis Her success has captured attention, along with high-profile cases of survivors seeking justice. This month alone, the trial of music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, continues. Meanwhile, disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein and President Donald Trump have been contending with the legal fallout from sexual assault allegations. Trump has denied all claims. Advocates hope these stories will encourage survivors to come forward. But even if they do, many people still live in a state where rape statutes don't protect victims who were unable to consent after becoming voluntarily intoxicated. Experts say some form of the intoxication loophole still exists in more than 20 states. A 2022 analysis of sexual assault laws from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. found nearly half of those jurisdictions 'require that a victim must be involuntarily intoxicated to be considered incapacitated or impaired.' 'State laws have enshrined victim blaming in our legal system when it comes to sexual assault,' said Mollie Montague, director of state legislative affairs with the nation's largest anti-sexual violence group, RAINN. Policy change may require a cultural shift, she says. 'Changing these laws really forces us to confront long-held beliefs – and laws that do that are hard to pass,' Montague said. 'People fear changing the status quo, and right now the status quo is protecting predators.' It can take time, she says, citing New York, where lawmakers have been trying to pass legislation to close the state's intoxication loophole for at least six years. And it isn't always due to opposition to the policies themselves or lack of lawmaker support. Advocates in the state said they've seen sexual assault bills with bipartisan support die again and again simply because they were not called to a vote. But after the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a felony rape conviction in 2021, citing that the victim had voluntarily consumed several shots of alcohol and a prescription narcotic pill before the alleged assault, outrage ensued and state lawmakers passed a new law within months. A group of lawmakers, including Texas state Rep. Ann Johnson, met Willis at the finish line. 'More than 30 years ago, I had somebody disclose to me that they were intoxicated at a fraternity party, taken to a space and sexually assaulted. It is something that I have carried with me,' Johnson told CNN. That personal story drove Johnson's decision to build a career working with assault survivors. As a former human trafficking prosecutor, she said she knows how difficult it can be to prosecute sexual assault cases, especially when alcohol is involved. Johnson said she and her colleagues with the state's Sexual Assault Survivors' Task Force have been workshopping legislation to close the intoxication loophole for at least the last six years, but each time it's been derailed, previously passing in the House but not the Senate. On that February day after the race, Willis 'was just physically devastated,' Johnson said. Ravenous, Willis snacked as the lawmakers talked to her about the legislation they had in the works and pitched her an idea. 'Would you be willing to let us name this the Summer Willis Act? Would you be willing to come back and testify to get it passed?' Johnson asked. Three months later, Willis was back at home in Houston, nursing a 102-degree fever and taking care of a 2-year-old and 4-year-old. The family was glued to the projector they set up specially for the night's entertainment: the last vote of the state's legislative session. 'He kept yelling at the projector, 'Talk about my mamma!'' Willis said of her older son. She had been telling and retelling the story of her rape to lawmakers, advocates and reporters over the past few months. 'I had to be willing to be the story,' Willis said. She anxiously waited to see if the bill, which now bore her name, would be called for a vote before the end of the night. With dozens of bills on the docket yet to be called, the hours ticked on. 'We're starting to realize, they're not getting through all of these. Will they choose ours?' Willis said. A text message from one senator's chief of staff came in, she said, saying, 'Prayers are needed right now.' When someone announced the session was ending for the night, Willis was in tears. 'And then they called our bill, when all hope was lost, when we already thought we lost,' Willis said. Texas Rep. Donna Howard authored the bill, which passed unanimously that night. 'When preparing for this legislative session, we knew we needed storytellers who could help thread the needle for lawmakers,' Howard told CNN in a statement. 'Summer was, in some ways, the missing piece to our puzzle.' Howard said Willis represents the thousands of survivors who have been turned away by law enforcement due to the state's previous consent laws. 'Our latest statistics show that 9% of survivors in Texas report their assault; of those, less than 3% will proceed to trial and even fewer will see their rapists behind bars. This will change after September 1,' she added. Republican state Sen. Angela Paxton, who carried the bill through the Senate, says the new law closes the gap that long allowed predators to escape accountability. 'Survivors will finally have the clarity and recognition in the law that their experiences are real, that what happened to them was criminal, and that our justice system will stand with them,' she told CNN in a statement. 'Prosecutors will be better equipped to hold offenders accountable, and potential perpetrators will know that these loopholes no longer exist.' In May, the state Senate passed a special resolution recognizing Willis for her advocacy on behalf of sexual assault survivors. When Willis heard advocates and lawmakers in New York were also trying to push through legislation to close their state's intoxication loophole, she booked a ticket. If people could see someone who took on the legislative machine and won, maybe they could do the same. Forty-eight hours later, and just weeks after the bill passed in the Texas Senate, Willis stood in the middle of New York City's Bryant Park as light rain misted over the busy professionals rushing by on their lunch breaks – and once again, she told the story of her rape. Her voice strained as she tried to speak over the din of the city in June, but she wasn't alone. Standing behind her were supporters from dozens of advocacy organizations, including Sky and Amanda Roberts, the brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Giuffre, a prominent sex abuse survivor of Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre died by suicide in April. Giuffre's advocacy for survivors was an inspiration for Willis, who wore a dress with a butterfly pattern that day, a symbol that came to represent freedom for Giuffre. When the bill passed in Texas, Willis says one of the first calls she received was from Sky and Amanda. The couple brought their two young children to the gathering in Bryant Park. 'I think it's important to let them know who their aunt was and what she fought for, and how important – at whatever age – it is to fight for what's right,' Amanda said. 'My sister – if she could be here today, she would have,' Sky added. Advocates for all kinds of causes are vying for the attention of the same pool of lawmakers who hold the power to turn a hot-button issue into tangible policy change. Having a face attached to an issue can mean the difference between a bill getting called for a vote or collecting dust for another year. 'Will people pay attention to sexual assault if someone's not crawling, or running with a mattress…?' Summer Willis But it's important to consult survivors when shaping these laws, not just when they're needed to promote them, Christian Nunes, president of women's grassroots group National Organization for Women, told CNN. 'A lot of times we see gaps in bills because survivors, or those people with lived experience who the bill is meant for, are not included in shaping the conversation, or the shaping of the bill,' said Nunes, who worked as a trauma therapist for years. Advocates in New York were heavily involved in shaping the bill, which had broad bipartisan support, Emily Miles, executive director of New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, told CNN. But that's not always enough, she noted. The bill was not called for a vote by the deadline and died. Four months, six pairs of knee pads and one small media blitz after her crawl to the state Capitol, Willis is sitting in her home in Houston on a hot afternoon in late June. She's been on a victory lap since the governor signed the Summer Willis Act, smiling wide for photo ops and media interviews. She just has one interview left for the day before she takes a full month off. She needs a break. 'I don't think people realize how hard it was,' Willis says through tears. 'Everyone can think about the worst thing that ever happened to them, but are they willing to stand on the steps of the Capitol, or crawl for 22 hours or tell the 'Today' show about it?' 'It takes so much,' she says. Despite her victory in Texas, she's disheartened by what happened with the bill in New York. No one ran. No one bled. But advocates there shared their experiences, just as she had. Is it enough for assault survivors to simply tell their stories and ask for help? 'That's a great question. Will people pay attention to sexual assault if someone's not crawling, or running with a mattress or doing these crazy things? Do we as a society care enough?' Willis says. 'I don't know, because this is the way that I did it.' She's planning on using her downtime to take a five-year anniversary trip with her husband, Andrew. He's been there for every step. Andrew says he's proud of what his wife has accomplished, and she's still the same person he met years ago back in the Peace Corps. He recalls an orientation they attended in Mexico. When the leaders reviewed information about sexual assault, one of their colleagues ran out of the room, visibly shaken. Summer rushed out to comfort her. 'I remember hours later seeing Summer and that woman, and maybe three or four other women, who were all sitting together and sharing stories,' he says. 'This was years before she ever thought about running marathons.' 'I forgot about the Peace Corps thing,' Willis says, recounting the night she told those women her story of sexual assault, and in turn they shared their own – one of them for the very first time. She considers the question again: Is it enough just to share your story? It turns out, sometimes it is. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you are not alone. Visit RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline for help. Call (4673), chat at or text 'HOPE' to 64673.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Norwegian royal charged with rape; police say victim count in double digits
The eldest son of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit and stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, Marius Borg Høiby is facing charges of multiple counts of rape, sexual assault and bodily harm. The charges come after a month-long investigation following Høiby's multiple arrests in 2024. Oslo Police Attorney Andreas Kruszewski confirmed that the number of victims is in the "double-digits." Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty Of Sexual Assault, Acquitted On Another Charge In Metoo Retrial Kruszewski said the charges include one case of rape with intercourse, two cases of rape without intercourse, four cases of sexual assault and two cases of bodily harm, the Associated Press reported. Kruszewski also reportedly said that 28-year-old Høiby was cooperative during police questioning. Swiss-born Liberal Megadonor Slapped With Lawsuit For Allegedly Groping, Sexually Harassing Winery Employee The Oslo Police District put out a statement saying that they carried out a "thorough investigation", with a "large number of witness interviews, several searches and a review of extensive digital material," according to a BBC translation. Read On The Fox News App "The number of victims was in the double digits during the investigation, but now reduced to seven. The rest of the allegations are dropped," Høiby's attorney, Petar Sekulic, told Fox News Digital. "Høiby is taking the accusations very seriously, but insists that the allegations are incorrect." Several outlets also reported that the Royal House of Norway said that the case was proceeding through the legal system and it had nothing to offer, though the palace has not yet replied to Fox News article source: Norwegian royal charged with rape; police say victim count in double digits
