Son of Norway’s Crown Princess arrested on suspicion of rape
By Catherine Nicholls, CNN
(CNN) — The 27-year-old son of Norway’s Crown Princess has been arrested on suspicion of rape, Norwegian police said Tuesday.
Marius Borg Høiby was born before his mother Mette-Marit married Crown Prince Haakon and became a princess in 2001. He was arrested for violating the criminal code which concerns “sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons is unable to resist the act.”
Police specified that he is accused of carrying out a “sexual act without intercourse” on a victim “said to have been unable to resist the act.”
The alleged victim is a woman in her 20s who did not know Høiby before she met him on the day of the alleged incident, her lawyer Hege Salomon told CNN. She was not in a relationship with Høiby.
Høiby was arrested late on Monday night, police said, and was being held in a detention center on Tuesday morning. His lawyer, Øyvind Bratlien, told CNN that he denies the allegation.
Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported that Høiby has now been charged with various offences against five different people – four women and a man.
Three of the women have been in a relationship with Høiby, NRK reported, adding that he has been accused of abuse in close relationships against all three women.
In August, police charged Høiby with assault and criminal damage after a violent incident at an apartment in Oslo that allegedly involved one of the three women. This woman was in a car with Høiby when he was arrested on Monday, police said.
Høiby has also been charged with threatening to kill a man in his 20s, NRK reported.
Høiby’s lawyer told CNN that he “only pleads guilty to a case of one incident of bodily harm against his last girlfriend, criminal damage in her apartment and a threat. For the other circumstances, he does not admit criminal guilt.”
The Royal House of Norway declined to comment on the allegations when approached by CNN.
This story has been updated.
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CNN’s Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou contributed to this reporting.
