Polish Police in a Lather over Creepy ‘initiation’ Photos Showing Teens Licking Whipped Cream off Priest’s Knees

By Corky Siemaszko AND Philip Caulfield
New York Daily News
September 20, 2012

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/polish-police-a-lather-creepy-initiation-photos-showing-teens-licking-whipped-cream-priest-knees-article-1.1163828?localLinksEnabled=false

Officials in Poland are in an uproar over photos showing a group of young teens licking cream off a priest's knees.

Polish authorities have launched a probe about a possible perv priest after photos surfaced showing teenage boys and girls licking whipped cream off his knees during a bizarre "initiation ceremony."

The priest's school, however, doesn't see what all the fuss is about.

The creepy snapshots were taken during an initiation ceremony for freshmen at St. Dominika Savio Silesian School in Lubin, southeast Poland.

The shots show a group of boys and girls on all fours - some of them in cat make-up - taking turns licking white foamy cream off Father Marcin Kozyra's knobby knees.

In one set, Kozyra is sitting in a battered armchair with a rod across his lap.

In another shot, he sits on a grass hill and appears to be whacking a female teen with a stick.

The priest, Father Marcin Kozyra, is the director of St. Dominika Savio Silesian School in Lubin, southeast Poland.

Polish police got whipped into a froth after the school posted the pics on its website.

"This is very disturbing," Marek Michalak, the Polish government's spokesman on child affairs, told Britain's The Telegraph.

The school said the initiation ritual was a long-standing tradition at the school, and no one had ever complained about it before.

"Surely the boundaries of decency and acceptable forms of bodily contact have been exceeded. I've ordered an enquiry and demanded an explanation from all relevant authorities."

Kozyra, the school's director, blamed the media for the uproar and insisted kids licking cream off a priest's knees "as a tribute" was a long-standing tradition at the school, he told local media.

He said nobody raised a fuss about it before, and school officials were shocked by the reaction they got after they posted them on their web site.

Polish authorities are investigating the incident, but aren't sure a crime was committed.

"It appears to be a storm in a teacup," Father Alfred Leja, a parish inspector that oversees the school, told The Telegraph.

"It appears to me that people are trying to distort this situation and make it look like some form of sexual abuse."

So far, no charges have been filed, and local prosecutors aren't sure a crime was committed, Polish media reported.

Child advocates said the priest clearly crossed the line, even if the ceremony was all in good fun.

"The children were manipulated into this. Limits were exceeded." Monika Sajkowska, director of an abused chidlren's charity, told Polish Press Agency.

A Polish child advocate said the children were 'manipulated,' and the priest crossed the line.