Dominican Republic Asks for Extradition of Another Polish Priest Accused of Sexually Abusing Children

inSerbia
November 1, 2013

http://inserbia.info/news/2013/11/dominican-republic-asks-for-extradition-of-another-polish-priest-accused-of-sexually-abusing-children/

Only weeks after another Polish priest who served in the Dominican Republic as a nuncio, or envoy, was accused of sexual abuse, another has been accused of the same crime.

Priest Wojciech Gil, 36, is accused of sexually abusing at least seven children. The crimes are alleged to have taken place in the small, hilly town of Juncalito, some 200 kilometers northwest of the capital, Santo Domingo. Gil, known as ‘Padre Gil,’ or ‘Father Gil,’ led a Catholic parish in the town of 1,300 for almost eight years.

Authorities also said they found over 87,000 pictures and videos of child pornography on Gil’s computer that he used at the small chapel he headed.

The allegations surfaced earlier this year when Gil was back in his native Poland on vacation. After he heard of the charges levied against him, Gil did not return to the Dominican Republic to resume his work.

He was eventually tracked down by Polish authorities in a small town in southern Poland, near the city of Krakow. They said they were keeping track of him after Interpol asked their Polish counterparts to find Gil, but it is unknown if the Polish government will grantl the Dominican Republic’s extradition request.

After being traced to his parents’ home in Poland, Gil denied any wrongdoing both to a local journalist and a Dominican journalist via telephone. Instead, he said that he was set up by drug traffickers that operate in the region where he served because he was teaching locals to resist drugs and crime.

The case comes approximately two months after Jozef Wesolowski, another Polish priest from the Krakow region, was accused of sexually abusing children in the Dominican Republic. The sixty-five-year-old, who previously served as an envoy for the Vatican in Central Asia and Bolivia, had held the same position in the Dominican Republic since early 2008. He was Pope Benedict’s highest representative in that country.

Wesolowski was recalled to the Vatican in August of 2013 for ‘unspecified allegations,’ and just weeks later, investigations were launched into his activities by Dominican authorites. Prosecutors have asked for his extradition from the Vatican so he can face charges in Santo Domingo and not Rome, but no indications have been given that say he will face justice in the Caribbean.

Both Gil and Wesolowski face up to twelve years in prison if extradited and found guilty of their crimes. In addition, Gil’s sentence could increase to twenty-two years if he is also found guilty on the child pornography charges.

Since his election to the papacy in March, Pope Francis has repeatedly said he will make the investigation of sexual abuse allegations a priority.