German court sentences priest to a 10-month suspended sentence for sexually abusing girls

Priest gets suspended sentence for child sex abuse

BERLIN — A court in southern Germany has convicted a Roman Catholic priest of sexually abusing three underage girls and handed him a suspended sentence of 10 months.

The state court in Weiden said Tuesday it found the cleric guilty of unduly touching young girls below the waist during religious education classes in an elementary school in four cases last year.

The court also fined him euro4,000 ($5,200).

A spokesman for the Regensburg diocese, Jakob Schoetz, said the priest, who is now 59, had been suspended from his duties since the allegations first emerged in April.

Schoetz said the priest will not return to pastoral duties or other work where he could be in contact with children. He added that a separate internal church proceeding is still pending.