UNITED STATES/INDIA
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[Fugitives from justice: Roman Catholic priests – via Chicago Tribune]
Rev. Sleeva Raju Policetti fled to India after being accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old Chicago girl; decade-long extradition effort now in peril
By David Jackson, Gary Marx and Ritu Sarin*
This story is a collaboration between the Chicago Tribune and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, led by the Tribune. The article is part of the series “Fugitives from Justice,” which exposes the flaws of the international fugitive apprehension program in the U.S. Tribune reporters Gary Marx and David Jackson tracked more than 200 fugitives charged with murder, rape and other serious felonies who evaded trial simply by fleeing U.S. borders.
Accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old Chicago girl, the Rev. Sleeva Raju Policetti fled Illinois nearly a decade ago to his native India, where the Roman Catholic archbishop of Hyderabad soon issued an order barring him from ministry.
In 2008, after a canonical trial, the Vatican took the rare and severe step of defrocking Policetti over the allegations, meaning he is no longer a priest.
But civil justice never caught up to the fugitive ex-priest, whose lawyers in India have fought efforts to extradite him to Chicago to face 20 felony counts of criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
And now it’s apparently too late.
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