OSLO, Norway -- A fourth woman at the centre of a rape case against the son of Norway’s crown princess testified in an Oslo court on Wednesday over an alleged rape in 2024, when he was already under investigation.
Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s 29-year-old son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to heir apparent Crown Prince Haakon, faces 38 charges, including raping four women while they were asleep or had passed out.
Hoiby has pleaded guilty to several relatively minor offences, but denies the rapes. He faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted.
The court heard testimony Wednesday from a woman who recounted an alleged rape on the night of November 1-2, 2024. Hoiby is accused of having engaged in sexual acts while she was asleep and of having filmed the acts without her knowledge.
As with the three other alleged rapes, the events are said to have taken place following a night of drinking -- during which Hoiby is alleged to have used cocaine -- and after initial consensual sex in the young woman’s hotel room.
“I was getting more and more tired. I felt like I was just lying there and he just wouldn’t stop. The more tired I got, the less I took part,” she told the court.
After she had told him she wanted to sleep, she said she was woken up by “a violent blow” to her genital area.
“It was painful,” she said, adding that “I think I just froze, then I fell back asleep.”
Hoiby is accused of having filmed 27 videos and taken four sexually explicit photos that night, some of which, according to the prosecution, show the woman was asleep.
Hoiby was due to testify Wednesday, but will instead take the stand on Thursday.
From the outset, he has denied rape and maintains that all the sex had been consensual.
At the time of the fourth alleged rape, he was already under police investigation. Hoiby was arrested on August 4, 2024, suspected of having assaulted his partner the previous night.
The investigation into that incident uncovered a slew of other suspected offences, including video footage on his phone and laptop of what police believed to be rapes.
When confronted by police, none of the women were aware of what had happened to them or that the actions could be considered criminal.
“I had memories of what had happened ... but in my mind, I hadn’t defined it as an assault,” the young woman told the court Wednesday.
If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:
- Call 911 if you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety.
- The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres' website has a comprehensive list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling.
- The Ending Violence Association of Canada‘s website has links to helplines, support services and locations across Canada that offer sexual assault kits.
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society crisis lines: +1 866 925 4419 or +1 800 721 0066 (24/7)
- Toronto Rape Crisis Centre crisis line: +1 416 597 8808 (24/7)
- Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: +1 833 900 1010 (24/7)
- Trans Lifeline: +1 877 330 6366
- Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988 (24/7)
- Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre for current and former Canadian Armed Forces members: +1 844 750 1648
- Read about your rights as a victim on the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime website.
