Spain’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced a former priest to 30 years in prison for abusing seven minors at a Catholic boarding school nearly a decade ago when he worked as a tutor.
Allegations of child abuse by Catholic clergy and possible Church cover-ups have emerged in recent months in Spain, years after similar scandals rocked the Church in other countries such as the United States, Ireland and France.
Church officials were not immediately available for comment. The former priest had denied wrongdoing in the past.
The religious authority of the central province of Ciudad Real removed the priest in 2019 and reported the case to prosecutors after an internal investigation into abuses committed when he was teaching teenage male students.
In its ruling, the court said he took advantage of his position to inappropriately touch the boys’ genitals, for example, while pretending to be playing in a swimming pool or in private rooms under the guise of medical “treatment”.
The court ruled that the touching was “of a clearly sexual character”. It also sentenced the man to pay a fine of 52,900 euros and compensation of 2,000 euros to each of the victims.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
