Nurse is charged with aggravated rape of a woman at the end of her life in hospital

It was late one evening in early August when a staff member caught a male nurse raping a female palliative care patient.

The man, who is in his 40s, fled the hospital in a car when the police were called. He crashed a while later into a concrete foundation at the Ekhagsroundabout in Jönköping and had to be taken back to the hospital in an ambulance.

He was arrested a few weeks later for aggravated rape and an investigation was started at the hospital to see if more patients may have been victimized by the man. He was also reported to the Inspectorate for Care and Care (IVO).

Died a few hours later

The exposed woman, who was in her 70s, died just hours after the rape, but it is believed to be due to her illness.

- The coroner's assessment is that the plaintiff died as a result of the illness she had. The investigation has not revealed any information that the suspect has committed crimes against other patients, says Frida Noldin.

The man has worked as a nurse for many years and, according to colleagues, has had a good reputation. During the investigation, several interviews were conducted with colleagues of the nurse who describe him as a safe and knowledgeable nurse.

The man has been questioned on a couple of occasions. He has completed the course of events.

Interrogation with colleagues

- I judge that the nurse has shown particular recklessness or brutality based on the fact that the crime was committed when the woman was cared for at the end of her life, without any possibility of peace, and that the man took advantage of his position as a nurse, said Chamber prosecutor Frida Noldin, in connection with the custody hearing.

Interrogations with colleagues of the nurse and technical analyzes are mainly invoked as evidence.