Father stabs elderly child molester

11-11-2008 Norway:

Two men face police charges in Alta in northern Norway, after one stabbed the other for sexually molesting his children. The admitted child molester suffered life-threatening stab wounds, but the father denies he intended to kill him.

The stabbing took place Sunday, a month after the 43-year-old father learned that a 72-year-old man in Alta had molested his children. The father is divorced from the children's mother, who lives with them in Alta.

She had grown suspicious about possible molestation and confronted her children, who told her about the attacks that allegedly occurred repeatedly over a period of several years.

Police subsequently charged the 72-year-old with sexual abuse, and he recently admitted to the molestation in the local newspaper Altaposten. He also expressed regret for attacking the children.

The children's father, who lives in Oslo, travelled north to Alta over the weekend and police contend he sought revenge. He went to the admitted molester's home at Bossekop in Alta, a confrontation that ended with the 72-year-old being stabbed just outside the entrance to his home.

The father's defense attorney has told newspaper Dagbladet that he did not attempt to flee after the stabbing. Instead, he asked neighbors to call for an ambulance and he was arrested by Alta police without further incident.

Police have charged him with pre-meditated murder, but the father denies he had any intention to kill his children's attacker.

The child molester is reportedly in stable condition at a local hospital. ..News Source.. by NINA BERGLUND