A 55-year-old Norwegian doctor who’s already been stripped of his medical authorization went on trial this week in Trøndelag. He’s charged with raping or otherwise assaulting as many as 94 patients over the last 20 years, during gynecological examinations.
Arne Bye, who worked for the small municipality of Frosta, has already acknowledged three rapes and 35 cases of misusing his authority as the local community doctor. He’s also been charged with filming many of his unclothed patients during medical examinations, without their knowledge.
Now he’s on trial in the local court in Steinkjer, where he started defending himself by claiming that he always took his patients’ problems seriously, that he thought they appreciated his work and that he was “down-to-earth and direct” without being offensive. He also showed a series of illustrations of female anatomy and described his own examintion techniques as, “if not genialt, quite smart.” His filming, he has claimed, was done to document various cases.
Bye’s trial, which directly affects many of Frosta’s roughly 2,400 residents and has traumatized the community, is due to last as long as three- to four months.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
