Pedocriminality in the Church of France: the ex-priest Bernard Preynat arrested in the Loire

Former priest Bernard Preynat at the Lyon court, January 13, 2020 © AFP - PHILIPPE DESMAZES

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Bernard Preynat, formerly known as "Father Preynat", sentenced in March 2020 to five years in prison for his sexual assaults on minors, was arrested this Wednesday morning, November 17 at his home.

Advertising

Read more

The former priest, now 76, had so far escaped prison due to his state of health.

This Wednesday morning, at 9 am, the police arrested Bernard Preynat at the home of his sister where he lived. 

He was then imprisoned in an arrest center near Saint-Étienne, not far from Lyon, a diocese where he committed his sexual assaults on at least nine minors.

During his trial, one of the lawyers for the civil parties estimated the number of these attacks to be between 3,000 and 4,000. 

A year and a half later, the former parish priest's requests to suspend his sentence were rejected.

A new medical expertise concluded that Bernard Preynat's state of health was no longer incompatible with his incarceration in a prison care structure. 

► 

Relief at the association La Parole libérée

The person concerned will however be brought before another doctor in prison, in the coming hours, to ensure that his detention is indeed possible. 

On the side of the victims, Bertrand Virieux, abused at the age of 9 by the former chaplain, and co-founder of the association La Parole Libérée, hinted this Wednesday his relief at not knowing his attacker at liberty.  

►

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• France

• Criminality

• christianity

• Rights of the child