Sweden charges man for selling wife to 120 men

A Swedish prosecutor on Monday charged a man, suspected of exploiting his “vulnerable” wife to have sex with men for money, with aggravated pimping, several rapes and assault in a case implicating some 120 men.

Sweden has been shocked by the revelations and comparisons have been made to Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, whose husband Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2024 after admitting to repeatedly drugging his then-wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious.

The 62-year-old suspect, reportedly a former Hell’s Angel, was arrested in October after his wife reported him to police in northern Sweden. He has been held in custody since.

According to the charges, the man had for years made money from pressuring his wife “to perform and submit to sexual acts”.

The man was accused of creating online adverts, setting up meetings, keeping guard and pressuring the woman, who is now in  to perform sexual acts online in order to attract more clients.

He was also accused of using violence and threats, taking advantage of her drug addiction as well as supplying her with drugs.

The prosecutor labelled it “ruthless exploitation”.

Sweden’s law on prostitution bans the buying of sex but not the selling, however it is also illegal to facilitate the sale of sex.

In addition to being charged with aggravated pimping, the man — who denies the accusations — was charged with eight rapes.

They include one incident with a client and several incidents where she was made to perform sexual acts to herself for online video.

Prosecutor Ida Annerstedt told AFP that the woman, who was described as being in a vulnerable position, to “some extent” had “agreed to sell sex”.

Boundaries

But the woman had objected to selling sex to certain people or under certain circumstances.

“There are certain boundaries she has had. When he hasn’t respected them, when he has steamrolled her after she has said ‘no’, those are the situations when he is charged with attempted rape, or rape,” Annerstedt told AFP.

He was also charged with four attempted rapes and four assaults.

The charges also detailed threats made to the wife, with some of them including warnings about unleashing “the monster”.

The incidents were alleged to have occurred between August 11, 2022, and October 21, 2025.

A trial is scheduled to start on April 13.

Annerstedt told AFP that authorities had identified some 120 individuals suspected of having bought sexual services.

Twenty-six men have been charged over the buying of sex related to the case, and Annerstedt said the other individuals were being investigated.

Silvia Ingolfsdottir, a lawyer representing the woman, told AFP the charges resulted from the “serious and aggravated crimes” her client had been a victim of.

“She now hopes to obtain justice,” Ingolfsdottir said in a text message.

According to public broadcaster SVT, the man had previously been a high-ranking member of the Hells Angels biker group.

The case has received widespread attention in Sweden.

Sweden’s Minister for Gender Equality, Nina Larsson in February said that men must “stop buying and selling women’s bodies.”

“The media reports about the so‑called ‘Swedish Pelicot case’ are shocking and disgusting,” she said in a post to X.

AFP