A 61-year-old Swedish man has been sentenced to four years and five months in prison after being convicted of coercing his wife into providing sexual services to more than 120 men. The verdict was handed down by a district court in Härnösand, a town on Sweden's eastern coast, following a trial that drew widespread international attention.
The court found the man, from the province of Ångermanland in eastern Sweden, had controlled his wife through threats of violence, drug administration, and an extensive network of surveillance cameras installed throughout their secluded farm near the town of Kramfors. Prosecutors said he had taken the initiative to sell her sexual services, administering what the court described as a business that began in 2022 and continued until she escaped through a camera blind spot and reported him to police in October 2025. The threats against her included warnings that he would kill her, pour petrol on her and cut off her fingers. The court found he had "ruthlessly exploited" the woman, convicting him of offences including attempted rape, aggravated pimping, assault, and unlawful threats. He was also ordered to pay 200,000 Swedish kronor (approximately €18,000) in damages. The man consistently denied wrongdoing, claiming he had only helped his wife fulfil a long-held dream of working as a high-end sex worker — a version of events the court rejected.
Swedish authorities identified around 120 men who engaged in the sexual services on offer, though only 29 were charged. Twenty-eight of those were ultimately convicted of collectively purchasing 56 sexual acts. Two received short prison sentences, while the remainder were given suspended sentences or fines. Under Swedish law, purchasing sexual acts — including online — is a criminal offence, though selling them is not.
The case drew inevitable comparisons to the Pelicot trial in France, in which Dominique Pelicot was found to have drugged his then-wife Gisèle and allowed dozens of men to rape her over nine years. While the Swedish man also gave his wife drugs, a key distinction noted by the court is that she was conscious of what was happening to her throughout. The court acknowledged that the victim's inability to testify directly complicated certain charges; several rape counts were dismissed because her involuntary participation could not be sufficiently established from chat records and other evidence.
The case is likely to intensify debate across Europe about coercive control, the policing of online sexual exploitation, and the accountability of buyers in cases involving trafficking and pimping. The identities of both the convicted man and his wife have not been made public.