Polish Priest Wanted over Dominican Child Sex-abuse

BBC
November 1, 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24770601

Poland's Catholic bishops last month apologised to the victims of priests accused of paedophilia

Prosecutors in Dominican Republic have asked their attorney-general to extradite a Polish Roman Catholic priest on child-abuse charges involving thousands of pornographic images.

The priest, Rev Wojciech Gil, is accused of abusing seven children.

Authorities say they also found more than 80,000 inappropriate images and videos of children on his computer.

In phone calls to reporters in the Dominican Republic, he has denied the accusations, saying he has been framed.

The priest was in Poland on holiday when the allegations first surfaced earlier this year and has not returned to the mountain town of Juncalito where he led a parish for eight years.

Polish police announced last month they had located the priest but he was not detained, since an Interpol warrant asked only for his location.

Now, Santiago prosecutor Luisa Liranzo told a news conference he was being indicted on charges of abusing seven children.

One of the complaints against the priest alleges he promised children he would take them to the beach and to Europe if they dressed in revealing underwear and appeared in videos and photos.

Another alleges he abused one boy for as long as three years.

The case is complicated by the lack of an extradition treaty between the two countries.

Polish justice officials earlier this month asked their Dominican counterparts to share documents and evidence in the case.

They have launched their own investigation into allegations of paedophilia against Rev Gil and another priest, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who served as Vatican representative to the Caribbean island before his recall earlier this year.

The two men may face trial in Poland.

Earlier this month, Poland's Catholic bishops issued an apology for clergy who have harmed children.