Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Catholic bishop Müller’s sexual abuse prosecution dropped

Georg Müller, former Bishop-prelate of Trondheim, will now not be prosecuted.

TV2 confirms the Public Prosecutor regards the case as obsolete.

Müller resigned last summer after admitting sexually assaulting an altar boy 20 years ago whilst serving as priest in the Catholic Church in Trondheim.

His now some 30-year-old victim was paid 250,000 kroner in compensation.

Police lawyer Heidi Melø in Sør-Trøndelag police district, which investigated the allegations, tells NRK the type of offence Müller committed is subject to a three-year sentence, with a reporting deadline of five.

Bishop Bernt Eidsvig, who met Public Prosecutor Anne M. Katteland last week in connection with her eventual decision not to investigate the Church’s confidential archive containing details of alleged incidents of sexual assault, says he’s not surprised.

“The legal advice I’ve received indicated it would go this way. I’m glad the public prosecutor’s decision has confirmed this,” he tells Adresseavisen.

Dominic Nguyen van Thanh, a priest at St. Olav’s Catholic Church in Trondheim, says he’s pleased they can now close the book on the matter.

“People here have thought a lot about this. We must now look ahead, and preserve the good.”
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