The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has started to investigate new suspicions of child abuse within the Conservative Laestadians – a conservative revival movement within the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
NBI Chief Inspector Tero Haapala says that a few cases of suspected aggravated abuse are now under investigation. The events go back several years.
Haapala did not want to disclose where in the country the events would have taken place, saying that more information would be forthcoming in August.
The NBI got wind of the events after the Central Committee of Conservative Laestadian Congregations (SRK) published its internal report on the matter.
The report by researcher Johanna Hurtig reveals that between 70 and 100 suspected cases of sexual abuse of children had taken place since the 1980s.
After the publication of the report, police were contacted by victims of the abuse, or by those who were close to them. Haapala hopes that others who know of such activities might also come forward.
The NBI says that it would appear that police had been aware of most of the cases detailed in Hurtig’s material.
The NBI investigated the matter by going through police records and by sending enquiries to the various police departments.
Some of the cases have already gone to court, but there are some in which the statute of limitations has run out, and others where there has been no prosecution due to lack of evidence.
In April police in Oulu were asked to investigate if SRK leaders had committed a crime when they taught that Laestadian lay preachers were also bound by confidentiality on matters revealed to them during conversations with parishioners.
The Oulu police have not yet decided if they want to start an investigation into the matter.
