More charges and victims have emerged in the case of a Norwegian shipping executive who has admitted to secretly filing colleagues in a bathroom.
John Anders Lindtveit Rose, 37, was charged in August with sexually offensive behaviour during the Arendalsuka economic gathering in Norway.
Now police in Agder have accused the former general manager at Maritimt Forum of filming during the same event in 2022.
Additional charges have been filed, according to a police statement cited by the iNyheter website.
The original case involved three victims who were sharing a flat with Lindtveit Rose in Arendal earlier this year.
“The police’s review of the seized material, which includes large amounts of data, has led to two additional people being named as victims from the incident in Arendal,” the statement added.
“All of the victims have been questioned, in addition to the police having questioned the accused,” said police lawyer Geir Magne Softeland.
“In addition to the incident in August 2024, for which he is charged, the investigation has revealed that the accused has engaged in illegal filming during Arendalsuka in 2022,” he added.
This incident is time-barred, however. Police said they cannot rule out further victims.
Pleaded guilty
“It is a time-consuming investigation where a large number of computer files have been reviewed,” Softeland said.
“I will not go into who the victims in the case are, other than that they are all adults. The accused has cooperated and pleaded guilty,” said Softeland.
Police said in August that Lindtveit Rose admitted the 2024 Arendalsuka offence during a four-hour interview.
TradeWinds’ sister newspaper DN reported that one of its reporters staying at a flat in Arendal discovered a hidden camera disguised as a speaker in the bathroom.
The accused resigned from his position at Maritimt Forum, an organisation representing shipping in Norway.
Filming is also alleged to have occurred while he held a “position of trust” in the Christian Democratic Party (KrF).
Lindtveit Rose is married to KrF deputy leader Ida Lindtveit Rose.
He was sharing a flat with a politician, two colleagues and the DN journalist in Arendal.
Ida Lindtveit Rose has said she and her family have recently been in a “deep crisis” as a result of her husband’s actions.
“As everyone understands, this is a very demanding matter for us as a family. What he has done is serious and for me incomprehensible,” she added.
Maritimt Forum has 700 members and was formed in 1990 by the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, Norwegian Shipbrokers’ Association, DNV and what is today called Norsk Industri.
Lindtveit Rose was previously a political adviser at the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association.
His lawyer Alexander Nyheim Jenssen said in August: “My client is primarily very sorry and ashamed of the case, and wants to contribute to a quick, orderly and fair clarification in the legal system for the sake of those affected.”
“My client acknowledges that he is ill, he is on sick leave and is currently undergoing treatment. The situation can be regarded as a life crisis and is experienced as very stressful for my client,” he added.
