Iceland’s Minister for Children has resigned in disgrace she was accused of having sex with a 15 year-old boy when she was 22 and getting pregnant by him.
Ásthildur Lóa Thórsdóttir said she met the troubled teen, identified as Eirík Ásmundsson by RUV, while she was working as a counsellor at a religious group he attended.
He was just 15-years-old when they began their secret relationship, the outlet reported. Thórsdóttir claims he was 16 when it became sexual.
The age of consent is 15 in Iceland, but it is illegal to have sex with anyone under the age of 18 if the adult holds a position of authority over them, as Thórsdóttir is accused of doing.
‘I understand… what it looks like,’ Thórsdóttir, now 58, said, adding that it is ‘very difficult to get the right story across in the news today’.
She gave birth to the couple’s son aged 23, while her lover was just 16.
The revelation emerged after Ásmundsson’s relative got in touch with Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir last week.
The former children’s minister was then summoned to her office on Thursday, where she confirmed the reports and immediately resigned.
‘This is very personal matter [and] out of respect for the person concerned, I will not comment on the substance,’ Frostadóttir said, adding that it was ‘very serious’.
Iceland’s Minister for Children Ásthildur Lóa Thórsdóttir has resigned in disgrace after admitting she had a child with a 15-year-old boy when she was 22
Thórsdóttir said she met the troubled teen, identified as Eirík Ásmundsson by Icelandic news outlet RUV, while working as a counsellor at a religious group he attended
Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir called it ‘a very serious matter’
Ásmundsson met Thórsdóttir while attending a Christian religious group Tru og Lif (Faith and Life) in Kópavogur he used to frequent as an escape from his troubled home life.
After he got her pregnant the baby’s parentage was reportedly kept secret, although the father was present at the birth and for the first year of his life, RUV reports.
However, this changed when the former children’s minister met her husband.
The Icelandic news outlet said it had seen documents submitted to the courts by Ásmundsson in which he unsuccessfully requested access to his son.
Eirikur claimed he was eventually permitted just two hours of visitation per month at Thórsdóttir and her husband’s home, First Post reports.
Meanwhile, Thórsdóttir requested and was receiving child support payments for the next 18 years.
She has since claimed that Ásmundsson was the more sexually experienced party and alleged that he ‘stalked’ her before she took pity on him.
‘Although I had not specifically anticipated it in this situation, 16 was the age of consent at the time, and relationships between people of that age were not at all uncommon, even if they were not desirable,’ she said in a statement to Iceland Monitor.
Thórsdóttir stepped down from her ministerial position but said she has no plans to leave parliament. Pictured: Thórsdóttir with her husband
She gave birth to their son, who is now 35, when she as 23 and the boy was 16
She also tried to paint him as a deadbeat dad who lost interest in her after getting her pregnant.
‘Our son is 35 years old today,’ she added. ‘He has therefore been of legal age and an adult according to the law for 17 years.
‘They met once by chance, but apart from that, his father has never in all these years made the slightest attempt to meet him or establish a relationship between them.
‘Given my previous experience, I cannot say that this surprises me.’
‘It’s been 36 years, a lot of things change in that time and I would definitely have dealt with these issues differently today,’ she added
Despite stepping down as children’s minister, Thórsdóttir revealed she has no plans to leave parliament.
She has been a Member of Parliament for the Southern Constituency since 2021 and has been Minister of Education and Children’s Affairs since 2024.
She worked as a teacher prior to entering politics
