Pedophilia in the Church: eight years required against ex-priest Bernard Preynat

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The Lyon court in central-eastern France will issue its decision on March 16 in the case of ex-priest Bernard Preynat. REUTERS / Emmanuel Foudrot

At least eight years in prison were required Friday January 17 against ex-priest Bernard Preynat tried for an old case of sexual abuse emblematic of the omerta of the Church of France on pedophilia. An " excessive " sentence for his lawyer.

The Lyon court, in the center-east of France, will make its decision on March 16 in this case " out of the ordinary ", according to prosecutor Dominique Sauves. " This is not the trial of collective cowardice or an institution, but that of a man who had set up his own structure to respond to his impulses, because he needed to have a varied pool and always fueled by small victims, "said the magistrate.

She accuses the accused of having “ broken ” the lives of Scouts aged 7 to 15 at the time of the facts, and of having “ used the silence of the parents and the silence of the Church ” to multiply his abuses between 1971 and 1991.

Assuring that the parish priest defrocked last summer, at the end of his canonical trial, " is aware of the harm he has done ", his lawyer Me Frédéric Doyez called on his side the court to take a decision which postpones him " In the community of men, in a place which is the one we occupy when we are 74 years old and when we are sick ".

I believe this man in a state of absolute loneliness. He is alone facing himself, facing his past, facing his offenses. And regaining the community of men, it may also be able to exchange again.

Master Frederic Doyez

lawyer of Bernard Preynat

This trial was eagerly awaited since the case broke out in late 2015, when complaints were filed, splashing the Catholic hierarchy through Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, tried for his silences on the case.

" Thank God we are there ," said the magistrate at the start of her indictment during which the ex-priest remained impassive, frozen in his chair and looking straight ahead, as during the whole audience.

" I apologize to the victims, their families, other priests, the diocese and the whole Church that I have soiled by my actions, " said the defendant, reaffirming that " since 1991 ", he has been " Faithful to the promise made to Mgr Decourtray ", the archbishop of the time, by never touching any child.

At the stand, the man asked for forgiveness from the nine victims who came to testify about their suffering. Many others were unable to file complaints due to prescription. A pardon without manifest empathy, which has all the less convinced the civil parties that the accused, if he recognizes most of the abuses that he is accused of, has denied some and downplayed others. For the prosecutor " he listened to the sufferings of the victims, but he did not hear them ".

I want him to go to jail, to be there as long as possible. Especially so that he reflects on all the suffering he has created. In any case, I hope he will have the maximum sentence.

Victims welcome the Prosecutor's closing statement

Court of lyon

(with AFP)