Priest Held for ‘slander’

By James Bone
The Times
June 28, 2013

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article3803584.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_06_28

James Bone Rome

The convicted paedophile priest who told police that other Catholic clergy used underage rent-boys was arrested for slander yesterday after prosecutors concluded he had made up the allegations.

Prosecutors said the claims by Patrizio Poggi, who served a five-year sentence for child abuse while a priest on the outskirts of Rome, were “untrue or based on mere hearsay” and motivated by personal animosity against some of the clerics named. They accused him of attempting to coach possible victims to back up his allegations.