Marius Borg Høiby, the stepson of Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon has been sentenced to four years in prison on Monday.
The 29-year-old was found guilty of two counts of rape, one count of domestic violence and several other crimes, but was acquitted on two other accounts of rape by an Oslo court. He was facing 38 charges in total with six women involved in the proceedings.
He was not in court when the sentence was read out but joined via video link.
Høiby had pleaded not guilty to the most severe accusations against him, including those of rape, while admitting to the lesser charges including offensive sexual behaviour and driving without a license.
Prosecutors had asked that Høiby be sentenced to seven years and seven months of prison in a seven-week trial that gripped the country.
His drug addiction was laid bare throughout the court case and videos of the crimes alongside over 800 electronic messages were entered into evidence in the case.
All four rape charges involved women who were either unconscious or incapacitated. One woman was able to secure a conviction after Høiby filmed himself in the act while she was asleep.
He is able to appeal the decision.
Høiby joined the royal family when his mother, Mette-Marit, married Haakon in 2001. The case has contributed to a decline in the popularity of the royal family as it coincided with Mette-Marit’s apology for her “poor judgment” in maintaining contact with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein after his 2008 conviction.
“There is equality before the law,” lead prosecutor Sturla Henriksboe told the court ahead of the trial.
“The defendant is the son of the crown princess. He is part of the royal family. He shall nevertheless be treated in the same way as any other person who is charged with the same offences.”
Sympathy for the family has grown after it was revealed that the Crown Princess was placed on the national lung register after her health severely deteriorated following a pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis. The condition makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and without a transplant she could have around a year left to live, according to her doctors.
Her son’s lawyers have repeatedly pushed the court to release Høiby in order for him to spend time with his mother.
The royal issued a statement on her connection to Epstein, saying she “showed poor judgement” over her contact with the disgraced billionaire and offered her sympathy to his victims.
“Jeffrey Epstein is personally responsible for his actions,” she said. “I must take responsibility for not checking Epstein’s background more closely and for not understanding quickly enough what kind of person he was. I deeply regret that, and this is a responsibility I must take.”
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