Court acquits Marius Borg Høiby of two rape charges

Oslo District Court has acquitted Marius Borg Høiby (29) of two rape allegations, including an incident in Henningvær, Lofoten in October 2023 and another at an Oslo hotel in November 2024, Dagbladet reports.

The court ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. In the Lofoten case, prosecutors presented a five-second video and fitness tracker data, but the court found it plausible that Høiby may have woken the woman before intercourse or believed he had. The woman’s own notes describing the evening as “great and cozy” shortly after the encounter also weighed against her later testimony.

In the Oslo hotel case, 27 videos and four images showed sexual contact, with the woman appearing awake and participatory in some. The court concluded the material did not prove non-consensual acts, noting the possibility she fell asleep during consensual sex and awoke in pain. Høiby was, however, convicted of filming the woman without her consent.

The court rejected the prosecution’s argument of a pattern linking the alleged rapes to disputes with another woman, stating no such pattern was established.

Høiby was sentenced to four years in prison for other charges, including two sleep rapes, domestic abuse, drug trafficking, and a death threat. He has appealed the verdict, which is not yet final.