Polish Priest Seeks Plea Bargain in Child Sex Abuse Case

GlobalPost
March 20, 2015

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/150320/polish-priest-seeks-plea-bargain-child-sex-abuse-case

A Polish priest accused of child sex abuse in the Dominican Republic has proposed a plea bargain to serve just under half of the 15-year jail term he is facing, a Warsaw court said Friday.

"The accused has forwarded a request to voluntarily submit to serve seven years in prison ... but formally the priest did not plead guilty," Warsaw court spokesman Marcin Lochowski told AFP.

Identified only as Wojciech G. for legal reasons, the accused priest whose trial began Friday faces up to 15 years behind bars on allegations of child sex abuse and possessing child pornography.

Polish prosecutors charged the 38-year-old priest last year with sex offences against eight children in both the Dominican Republic and Poland.

Wojciech G. had previously denied any wrongdoing.

"His request means that de facto he recognises that he is guilty as accused," Lochowski added.

The trial was adjourned until next Wednesday, when the court may rule on the proposal.

Another Pole, defrocked Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, is accused of sexually abusing children and possessing child pornography while serving as the Holy See's ambassador to the Dominican Republic in 2008-13.

The 66-year-old is being held at the Vatican pending the trial that will be the first of its kind within its walls.

If convicted, Wesolowski faces up to seven years in prison -- longer if there are aggravating circumstances.

The Vatican rebuffed extradition moves by Poland, although officials at the Holy See have said that could happen after the planned trial.

The United Nations has fiercely condemned the Catholic Church for failing to stamp out child sex abuse and allowing systematic cover-ups by moving clergy suspected of molesting children to other posts.

Pope Francis has vowed to crack down on the abuse.