Child pornography trial: Convicted priest appeals

A priest from North Rhine-Westphalia has appealed against his conviction in the trial for possession of child and youth pornographic content. 

The appeal was received on time, a spokesman for the district court Waldbröl (Oberbergischer Kreis) told the Catholic News Agency (KNA) on Tuesday. 

The district court had found the man guilty last week and sentenced him to a prison sentence of one year and two months on probation. 

According to the court, it involved more than 3,000 image and video files with child pornographic and around 21,000 files with youth pornographic content. 

The defendant had fully admitted the allegations.

With the appeal filed, the judgment is not final. 

According to the spokesman, the district court must now first depose the written judgment.

The court has five weeks to do this, currently about four weeks.

The appeal may still be limited or withdrawn, according to the spokesperson. If the appeal persists, the Bonn Regional Court must deal with the case.

The Archdiocese of Cologne had informed before the trial that the priest had been prohibited after the possible criminal conduct was made known, as well as any activity with minors. 

In addition, a preliminary investigation under church law was initiated. 

This rests during the state criminal proceedings and should be resumed after its final conclusion.