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  Swiss Church Examines Four Suspected Child Abuse Cases

Expatica
March 20, 2010

http://www.expatica.com/ch/news/swiss-rss-news/swiss-church-examines-four-suspected-child-abuse-cases_32304.html

SWITZERLAND -- The Swiss Catholic Church is examining at least nine "serious" cases of suspected sexual abuse or harassment in recent years, four of them involving children, a church spokesman said Saturday.

"A national group is examining the most serious cases, there are nine cases and a tenth is being transmitted," Walter Mueller, a spokesman for the Swiss Bishops Conference told AFP.

The victims included three young girls and a schoolboy, he added.

Mueller said the cases, which occurred over the last six years, were among about 60 reported cases of sexual impropriety by priests or Catholic care-givers that emerged in the Swiss church over the past 15 years.

The victims were both adults and children.

"Our aim is that these serious cases are brought to justice, but we don't want to do anything without the agreement of the victims," Muller said.

"Except when there's a danger of a repeat," he added, although he was unable to give details.

Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday expressed "shame and remorse" for episodes of child sex abuse in Ireland, and said priests and religious workers guilty of child abuse must answer for their crimes before tribunals.

Since the Irish cases emerged, abuse scandals have come to light in the pope's native Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Eight years ago the Swiss Bishop's Conference published guidelines on dealing with sexual abuse by priests, amid similar moves by church hierarchy in Europe and North America following child sex scandals.

Each of Switzerland's dioceses have since set up dedicated offices to encourage reporting of sexual impropriety by priests, investigate allegations, and ensure care for victims.

The diocese of Chur, which covers much of eastern Switzerland, revealed on Wednesday that a priest there since 1992 had confessed to sexually abusing children in Austria and Germany in the 1970s.

The case was referred to police in Austria.

However, the northern diocese of Basel later found that local church officials had known of earlier accusations when the priest worked there in the 1970s and 1980s and called for any victims to come forward.

 
 

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