Iceland's Minister for Children Asthildur Loa Thorsdottir stepped down from her post after admitting that she had a child with a teenager more than 30 years ago.
On Sunday, the North Atlantic island nation's president, Halla Tomasdottir, accepted the minister's resignation. Thorsdottir's decision was made as it was revealed last week that she gave birth to a child 35 years ago when she was still 23 years old, where the father was found to be a 16-year-old.
Iceland Minister's Child With a Teenager
National broadcaster RUV was the one that revealed the relationship between the minister and the teenager, noting that they met as a church youth group when the boy was only 15 years old. In Iceland, the age of sexual consent is 15, but it is still an offense for an adult to have sex with a teenager that they teach, employ, or mentor.
In a statement, Thorsdottir confirmed her relationship with the boy, noting that she was not a leader of the church group, only a member. She noted that relationships between people of that age were not at all uncommon at the time, according to Yahoo News.
The minister said that their relationship only lasted for a few days but noted that the father was present when she gave birth to their child. RUV also reported that the father sought access to is child through the government and church but was only granted occasional visits and still paid child support for 18 years.
Thorsdottir said that the father of her child did not make efforts to establish a relationship with his son. Despite her justification of her past actions, the minister announced her resignation during a meeting of the State Council on Sunday.
Stepping Down From Her Position
While the minister has decided to leave the government, she is still a lawmaker for the People's Party. This is part of a coalition government that is led by Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir of the Social Democratic Alliance, the Associated Press reported.
Iceland is a volcanic island nation that is located below the Arctic Circle and has a population of fewer than 400,000. The nation's parliament was founded in 930 by Viking settlers and is arguably the oldest legislature in the world.
During Thorsdottir's announcement, she said that it has been 36 years since she had a relationship with the teenage boy. She added that a lot of things could change within that time, saying that she would have dealt with things differently now, as per BBC.
