PORTSMOUTH (UNITED KINGDOM)
Jersey Evening Post [St. Helier, Jersey, England]
April 3, 2025
By Megan Davies
The alleged victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest has denied tricking the priest when confronting the alleged perpetrator during a phone call.
The complainant told jurors on the third day of Piotr Antoni Glas’s trial in the Royal Court that the priest “would never admit to what he did” and would either lie or “twist the truth”.
Under cross-examination from the defence the complainant maintained that they “never had a doubt” about their allegations.
Mr Glas (61) faces eight charges of committing acts of gross indecency and two charges of indecent exposure, all of which the prosecution say were sexually motivated.
He is accused of placing the child’s feet against his face and masturbating, play-fighting until the child’s face was near his erect penis and the child’s feet in his face, and kissing the child on the mouth.
The gross indecency charges are alternative charges: this means that for each year when the alleged victim says the incidents happened, the jury will have to choose whether they took place multiple times, once or not at all.
Two alleged kisses on the mouth make up the indecent assault charges.
Advocate Simon Thomas, defending, put to the complainant on Wednesday that the incidents did not happen.
The court was played recordings of two calls that the complainant made to Mr Glas, which he made years later after the alleged offending.
The second call was made with the assistance of a friend, who near the end of the call whispered to the complainant, the court heard.
The complainant explained: “She whispered to me, because I was starting to come up with solutions for the defendant and I was following along. She said: ‘That’s not for you to decide. That’s not for you to come up with.’
“In other words, she was encouraging me to end the call.”
Advocate Thomas said: “You both tricked him. That’s what it was.”
The complainant replied: “I don’t see it that way.”
The alleged victim said that they had made the second call with a witness, in case the recording of the first call could not be used in court.
They said: “I knew that this man would never admit to what he did, he would either deny it, lie about it our twist the truth.”
Advocate Thomas asked the complainant if they had left the call feeling like they had “evidence in the bag”.
The alleged victim replied: “I wouldn’t say ‘in the bag’, that’s quite a harsh description of it. I didn’t come away from it feeling victorious.
“It was much more of a grounding conversation. I knew that I had clear evidence of him not only admitting, but apologising for his actions, because that was something I knew if he was not going to be cooperative with going to his bishop.”
They added: “I never had a doubt about my allegations. Never once.”
Advocate Thomas put to the complainant that these calls, which were recorded without Mr Glas’s knowledge, were “tricking” Mr Glas. The complainant denied this was the case.
During the proceedings, the Deputy Bailiff asked the complainant: “Did it shake your faith at all?”
The alleged victim responded: “I’d be lying if I said no. It caused me to pause. That’s something I’m definitely past at this point.”
Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae is presiding. The jury trial is expected to continue until the middle of next week.