Europe 1 with AFP 2:29 p.m., February 15, 2023

On Tuesday, the criminal court of Pas-de-Calais sentenced a 65-year-old priest to six years in prison for rape and sexual assault committed on a teenager between 2005 and 2006. This prison sentence, with a warrant of committal, is accompanied by a five-year socio-judicial follow-up with, in particular, a treatment order.

A 65-year-old priest was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison by the criminal court of Pas-de-Calais for rape and sexual assault committed on a teenager between 2005 and 2006, we learned on Wednesday from the registry and of a lawyer.

This prison sentence, with a warrant of committal, is accompanied by a five-year socio-judicial follow-up with in particular a treatment order, a ban on engaging in an activity involving minors and a ban on entering relationship with the victim.

In the event of non-compliance with these obligations, the accused risks an additional three years in prison.

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Eight years in prison with warrant of committal required

The Advocate General had requested eight years in prison with a warrant of committal.

"We are relieved that justice has done its job. This prison sentence seems fair," reacted Me Zakia Aït Ali Slimane, the victim's lawyer, aged 13 and 14 at the time of the events.

"During the hearing, we did not feel any questioning on his part. He said he did not remember anything. We are happy to have been heard", she also rejoiced with AFP.

The teenager had met the priest, Alain Bonjour, during a visit in 2004 to Lisieux, where he was responsible in particular for welcoming groups of young people for the Notre-Dame-de-Vie institute.

She then confides to him her distress, a recent suicide attempt, and her need to turn to God, then begins a correspondence with him.

Kisses, caresses and touching

But the priest's vocabulary changes little by little: he speaks of "fire of love", jokes about the possibility of a marriage, says one day that he "dreams" of his body, the victim will tell the investigators.

"I needed attention at the time, he had become a referent adult, whom I trusted," the young woman, now 31, told AFP.

Religion was at the time "a reason to live, a refuge" for her.

According to the investigation, the priest then imposed kisses, caresses and touching during visits in 2005 and 2006. He took her in and offered her to sleep in his bed, until the rape in the summer of 2006.

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She filed a complaint in 2015, particularly concerned with protecting potential future victims.

Chaplain in schools, Alain Bonjour was "always in a position to harm", she explains today.

The accused had confessed to the facts in police custody in 2017, before then minimizing them before the judge.

During the investigation, former students of establishments where he officiated testified to inappropriate tactile behavior, or sexual allusions and jokes.