Priest detained over Dominican Republic child abuse claims

The News
February 17, 2014

http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/162249,Priest-detained-over-Dominican-Republic-child-abuse-claims

A Polish priest was detained on Monday near Krakow in connection with an investigation concerning alleged child abuse in the Dominican Republic.

Przemyslaw Nowak, spokesman for the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, confirmed the news on Monday morning.

Father Wojciech G. (full name withheld under Polish privacy laws) has been under investigation by the Polish prosecutor's office since late September.

The Dominican Republic's attorney general transferred its case files, containing about 650 documents, to Poland last autumn, and it is understood that if charges are brought, the cleric will be tried in Poland.

It is alleged that the Polish priest, who led a parish in the highland town of Juncalito for close to a decade, molested several children.

When allegations emerged against him last year, Father Wojciech G. declined to return to his post from a holiday in Poland.

It is understood that he has been residing with family in his native village south of Krakow.

Father Wojciech G. has repeatedly denied the accusations against him.

Besides testimonies provided by alleged victims, authorities in the Dominican Republic claim that child pornography was found on the priest's computer in Juncalito.

Father Wojciech G.'s is one of two current cases involving Polish clergymen in the Caribbean country. The Dominican Republic's attorney general transferred case files to the Vatican last year concerning Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, former papal nuncio in the country.

It is understood that the archbishop is residing in Rome or the Vatican City, and the Holy See has confirmed that it will not extradite the clergyman, and will instead lead its own investigation. (nh)