SA abuse probe widens to Germany

Tag: germany

Jean-Baptiste Piggin

Berlin - A Catholic priest facing child-sex charges in South Africa has admitted to German police that he molested a boy in Germany, his home diocese said on Tuesday in Aachen.

Prosecutors in the city of Krefeld confirmed they had begun a criminal inquiry, but gave no details.

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The diocese of Aachen, near the Dutch border, said the German priest had transferred in 2007 to an agency of the German Bishops' Conference which sends priests abroad to say mass for German emigrants. He had worked in Aachen diocese from 1994 to 2007.

It said he had sent an admission by fax to the German prosecutor that he had abused a boy in Germany who is now an adult.

But he denied charges that he committed molestation in South Africa.

The German Catholic Church has adopted an openness policy in recent weeks, publicising allegations against its priests, referring a series of cases to the police and setting up a national phone line for people to report abuse.

The church has been criticised in many nations for trying to deflect police and public attention from paedophiles in the clergy.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/New...y-20100504