The Catholic Church has announced it will carry out its own official investigation into sexual abuse cases involving two priests in Zealand despite the police dropping charges against the men because the cases were too old.The decision comes after allegations of secrecy and cover up on the part of the church.
Both priests, who were suspended due to the police investigation, will now have to wait for the church to finish its investigation before they can be restated, according to Berlingske Tidende newspaper.The cases against the priests chiefly concern alleged sexual assaults and misconduct against young men. One of the men has committed suicide, and his family believes he did so as a result of being abused.
‘The official investigation will shed light on the complaints raised against the two priests,’ said church spokesman Rev Niels Engelbrecht.
‘The police have already looked at these cases and now we will do the same. Even though they may not be prosecutable because of the statute of limitations, we will still judge their substance to see if there is something we as their employer must react to.’
In the meantime, a third priest who was also under investigation has had his suspension lifted. The police could find nothing of a criminal character in the complaints made against him.
However, Engelbrecht has stated that this priest faces a disciplinary charge because he did not act in accordance with the respect and esteem which his post demands.
A fourth priest who was sentenced for paying to download child pornography onto his computer has returned to his native Poland and, according to Engelbrecht, has no future in the Catholic Church in Denmark.
SIC: TCP