German diocese refers to prosecutors case of priest accused of abusing children

German diocese files complaint against priest

BERLIN — A German diocese said Friday it has given prosecutors the case of a priest accused of sexually abusing four boys several years ago, and he was suspended from his current post at a home for retirees.

The alleged abuse took place between 1980 and 1996, according to the diocese of Erfurt in eastern Germany.

One of the men who claims to have been abused by the priest asked the diocese at Easter to go to prosecutors, diocese spokesman Peter Weidemann said. When questioned by church officials this week, the priest admitted to three other cases, Weidemann said.

The diocese then filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors in Muehlhausen, the spokesman said.

The first of the alleged victims initially came forward in 1997 with his parents, but they said they didn’t want to go to prosecutors or go public, so the priest was kept “under observation” after that, Weidemann said.

Between 2004 and 2006, the priest was sent to work at two institutes for young offenders, but the state justice ministry in Thuringia wasn’t informed of the previous allegation against him, the diocese said. In a statement it said that it “takes responsibility for this wrong decision.”

In August 2006, the priest was removed from that job for violating prison rules, it said. Weidemann said the violations “had nothing to do with sexuality.”

A psychiatric evaluation then found that he was fit for pastoral duties, but diocese officials decided it would be better if he went elsewhere, Weidemann said. The Bavarian diocese of Wuerzburg agreed to the move, and he worked there in a home for retirees.

The Wuerzburg diocese, which identified the priest only as the Rev. Ernst W., now 61, said it had suspended him at Erfurt’s request pending investigations by prosecutors and the church.

There are no indications of any sexual misdemeanor by the man since the alleged cases in the 1990s, the Erfurt diocese said.

The Roman Catholic Church in Germany, Pope Benedict XVI’s homeland, has been rocked by allegations of physical and sexual abuse in recent weeks, with hundreds of people who say they were victims coming forward.