Sweden charges man at center of Nobel scandal
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The man at the center of a sex-abuse and financial crimes scandal that is tarnishing the academy which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, was Tuesday charged with two counts of rape of a woman in 2011.
Swedish prosecutor Christina Voigt said the evidence “is robust and sufficient for prosecution.”
Jean-Claude Arnault, a well-known figure in Sweden who ran a cultural center, is married to poet and member of the Swedish Academy, Katarina Frostenson. He has denied this and other sex abuse allegations.
In April, the Swedish Academy said an internal investigation into sexual misconduct allegations found that “unacceptable behavior in the form of unwanted intimacy” has taken place within the ranks of the prestigious institution.
Violence was used in one case and in the second incident the victim was asleep, Voight told The Associated Press, adding seven people back the victim’s claim.
“We are talking about the same woman and the rapes took place in October and December 2011,” said Voight who didn’t name the victim as is the customary in Sweden.
The secretive 18-member board has in recent months been embroiled in a sex-abuse scandal that investigators concluded was “not generally known.” It has led to the departure of seven members of the Academy, including Frostenson who stepped down in April at the same time as another woman — the academy’s permanent secretary Sara Danius.