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Who is Ásthildur Lóa Thórsdóttir? Iceland minister had secret baby with 16-year-old 30 years ago
A local Icelandic news agency broke the story of minister Ásthildur Lóa Thórsdóttir's secret child, following which she resigned from her position.
Iceland’s Minister of Education and Children’s Affair, 58-year-old Ásthildur Lóa Thórsdóttir, resigned from her job after revealing about her secret child in an interview. According to the BBC, she said that she gave birth to a child with a 16-year-old, and their relationship started when the boy was 15. This explosive revelation has shocked the world.
"It's because 36 years ago I was 22 years old and in a relationship with a man who was much younger than me, sixteen years old," she told a local news agency, reported Icelandic outlet Vísir. She revealed about this part of her life after she was asked the reason behind her resignation. This came following a report by a local media agency about her secret child.
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During the interview, she shared how she is not the same person today as she was 30 years ago. "It's been 36 years and a lot of things change in that time and I would definitely have dealt with these issues differently today than I had the skills and maturity to do when I was 22,” she said.
According to Vísir, the father is identified as Eiríkur Ásmundsson. He accused the former minister of preventing him from interacting with his son. However, Thórsdóttir denied the allegations. Reportedly, their secret relationship continued for some time, and Ásmundsson was present at his child’s birth.
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Ásmundsson, according to the Icelandic news agency RUV, had requested the country’s justice ministry to give him access to his son but claimed that Thórsdóttir denied it. He further alleged that Thórsdóttir had been receiving child support payments from him for over 18 years.
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Iceland's prime minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir, addressed the matter as “serious,” adding that she knows “more than an average person,” according to the BBC.
"This is a very personal matter [and] out of respect for the person concerned, I will not comment on the substance," she said.
What is the legal age of sex in Iceland?
According to the BBC, it is not illegal for a person to have sex with a 15-year-old as that is the legal age in the country. However, it is illegal for a teacher or mentor to have sex with a person under 18. It also applies to those who are sleeping with someone financially dependent or working for them and are under 18. At the time of their relationship, Thórsdóttir was a counsellor at a religious group that Ásmundsson attended.
