The Pocket Man

"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.

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, [http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2007/10/18/515409.html Dagbladet: Lommemannen jages i Sverige] no icon] which in some cases border on the Norwegian criminal code's definition of rape. [http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/lommemannen/artikkel.php?artid=508151 VG: Nye «Lommemannen»-tips i jula] no icon] . 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. [ [http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/lommemannen/artikkel.php?artid=508525 Verdens Gang: - Uforståelig angst for det seksuelle] no icon] The police have later informed that the most serious case has an upper limit of 15 years. [ [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2193014.ece Aftenposten: Fant flere beviser mot «Lommemannen»] no icon]

Other commons traits [http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/lommemannen/artikkel.php?artid=187080 VG: Intens jakt på «Lommemannens» første offer] no icon] 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 [ [http://www.ba.no/nyheter/krim/article3157027.ece Bergensavisen: Etterlyser de tre første ofrene] no icon] 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". [ [http://www.dagsavisen.no/innenriks/article323234.ece Dagsavisen: Må ta Lommemannen innen seks måneder] no icon] 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. [http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/lommemannen/artikkel.php?artid=187080 VG: Intens jakt på «Lommemannens» første offer] no icon]

As early as 1983 or 84 "The Pocket Man" made an attempt against two boys at Garnes in Bergen. The boys ran away. [ [http://www.ba.no/nyheter/krim/article3023832.ece Bergensavisen: Her traff vi bandasjemannen] no icon]

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, [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/oslo/article2036572.ece Aftenposten: Navngitte menn i søkelyset] no icon] in 2003 the person is alleged to have been both at Quality Hotel and Badeland in Sarpsborg. [ [http://www.sa.no/lokale_nyheter/article2408976.ece Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad: Frykter lommemannen vil "røre på seg igjen"] no icon] Two incidents took place on July 13, 2002 in Sarons dal in Kvinesdal and at Hamresanden camping in Kristiansand on July 12, 2003. [ [http://www.fvn.no/nyheter/article389495.ece Fædrelandsvennen: «Lommemannen» var på Sørlandet] no icon]

In January 2005 another incident took place in Sauda, [ [http://www.nettavisen.no/innenriks/article733736.ece Nettavisen: Nytt spor i «lommemann»-saken] no icon] whereas an incident involving two victims took place in a swimming hall in Skjolden on July 14, 2006. [ [http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/lommemannen/artikkel.php?artid=126481 VG: Ferieturen på Vestlandet endte i tragedie: Sønnene misbrukt av «lommemannen»] no icon] In October 2007 it became known that also Swedish police were investigating whether "The Pocket Man" was behind an offense at Svinesund.

Investigation

eparate investigations before coordination

Police in Norway currently lack a centralized computer system which is able to reveal similarities between individual cases. [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2178277.ece Aftenposten: De oppdaget Lommemannen] no icon] "The Pocket Man's" offenses against young boys had all been registered as independent cases. [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2178277.ece Aftenposten: De oppdaget Lommemannen] no icon] Just by accident, an investigator discovered in 2003 there were several conjoined cases. [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2178277.ece Aftenposten: De oppdaget Lommemannen] no icon]

The police in Ski outside Oslo were given the task of initiating a more comprehensive investigation of the itinerant serial criminal in 2003. [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2178277.ece Aftenposten: De oppdaget Lommemannen] no icon] 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. [http://www.nrk.no/programmer/tv/brennpunkt/1.1310841 NRK: Lommemannen kunne vært tatt] no icon] 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. [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2178277.ece Aftenposten: De oppdaget Lommemannen] no icon] During the same period new tips arrived for this team of previously undisclosed incidents. [http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/lommemannen/artikkel.php?artid=508151 VG: Nye «Lommemannen»-tips i jula] no icon]

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. [ [http://web3.aftenbladet.no/innenriks/article372890.ece Stavanger Aftenblad: DNA-treff i jakten på lommemannen] no icon] DNA testing also showed that "The Bandage Man" and "The Pocket Man" were the same person. [http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/lommemannen/artikkel.php?artid=187080 VG: Intens jakt på «Lommemannens» første offer] no icon]

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". [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2190458.ece Aftenposten: Politiet nærmer seg «Lommemannen»] no icon] Technically it was unfeasible to analyse the evidence in 1995, but it was stored for later analyses. [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2190458.ece Aftenposten: Politiet nærmer seg «Lommemannen»] no icon]

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". [ [http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2007/09/22/512829.html Dagbladet: Kripos tror «Lommemannen» kan bo i Moss] no icon] 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". [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/oslo/article2036572.ece Aftenposten: Navngitte menn i søkelyset] no icon] In connection with an incident in July 1999 at Nattland, "The Pocket Man" however used an expression typical of the Bergen region, [ [http://www.ba.no/nyheter/krim/article3159311.ece Bergensavisen: Lommemannen røpet seg på Nattland] no icon] and Kripos obtained DNA samples from four individuals from the Bergen area in the autumn of 2007. [ [http://www.ba.no/nyheter/irix/article3099075.ece Bergensavisen: Politiet tror Lommemannen er bergenser] no icon]

Apprehension

Early in the morning of January 11, 2008, in Bergen, the police apprehended the man whom they believe to be "The Pocket Man". [http://www.bt.no/lokalt/article474981.ece Bergens Tidende: Lommemannen tatt i Bergen] no icon] A previously unpunished man in his fifties was apprehended. [http://www.bt.no/lokalt/article474981.ece Bergens Tidende: Lommemannen tatt i Bergen] no icon] 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, [ [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2195716.ece Aftenposten: - Orker ikke lese aviser] no icon] . His defense attorney is Tor Erling Staff.

Before the apprehension a secret search was conducted in the person's house. [ [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2191709.ece Aftenposten: Sikret DNA-bevis under hemmelig ransaking] no icon] 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. [ [http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/jd/dok/NOUer/2004/NOU-2004-6/8/7/4.html?id=385417 Justis- og politidepartementet: NOU 2004: 6; Mellom effektivitet og personvern – Politimetoder i forebyggende øyemed, 7.7.4 Hemmelig ransaking] no icon]

It is not known whether secret searches have been conducted on the up to 639,000 Norwegian men who 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. [ [http://www.aftenposten.no/amagasinet/article2188972.ece Aftenposten: –Du blir besatt av tanken på hvem han er] no icon]

During later searches the police have allowed journalists to photograph impounded material from the house of the charged individual. [ [http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2008/01/12/523649.html Dagbladet: - Han hentet oss i Porsche og hadde en pistol i hanskerommet] no icon]

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.cn|date=January 2008 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.cn|date=January 2008

Trial

Change of lawyer

In early May it was reported [cite news |author= Torgersen, Hans O. |coauthors= Stein, Catherine |title= Pedophile "Pocket Man" dumps his lawyer |url= http://www.aftenposten.no/english/article2403572.ece |format= |work= Aftenposten |publisher= |location= Oslo, Norway |id= |pages= |page= |date= May 2, 2008 |accessdate=2008-05-03 |language= |quote= |archiveurl= |archivedate= ] 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

External links

*cite news |title= Norway nabs 'pocket' sex suspect |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7184073.stm |publisher= BBC News |date= January 11, 2008 |accessdate=2008-01-15
*cite news |author= Associated Press |title= Norwegian police arrest "Pocket Man" suspect in 30 years of sexual abuse of young boys |url= http://www.pr-inside.com/norwegian-police-arrest-pocket-man-r382504.htm |format= |work= |publisher= |location= |date= January 11, 2008 |accessdate=2008-01-17
*cite news |author= Berglund, Nina |title= 'Pocket Man' stays mum |url= http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2194983.ece |format= online edition |work= |publisher= "Aftenposten" |location= Oslo, Norway |date= January 14, 2008 |accessdate=2008-01-15
*cite news |author= Stoltz, Aasa Christine |title= Norway police arrest serial paedophile suspect |url= http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20080111-0631-norway-peadophile-.html |work= SignOnSanDiego.Com |publisher= The San Diego Union-Tribune |date= January 11, 2008 |accessdate=2008-02-11
* [http://www.lommemannen-kripos.no/ Kripos’ page about «Lommemannen»] no icon
* [http://demo.geodata.no/kripos2/ Kripos’ map of «Lommemannen» incidents] no icon
* [http://www.dagsavisen.no/innenriks/article323188.ece Dagsavisen: Se bilder: Er dette lommemannen?] no icon