ARGENTINA
International Business Times
By Sounak Mukhopadhyay | September 25, 2013
Father Julio Cesar Grassi has been banned from priesthood on Tuesday.
The Argentine Roman Catholic priest has already been serving a jail sentence for 15 years due to the sexual abuse charge against him. The bishopric of Moron carried out the formalities of banning Fr Grassi in Buenos Aires.
Fr Grassi was renowned for convincing celebrities in the country to donate generously for the Happy Children Foundation. He raised millions for the foundation through several campaigns and TV appearances. Major celebrities who donated for the foundation have now remained aloof after Fr Grassi was charged.
He was charged for sexually abusing a teenage boy in 1996. However, he managed to move free in spite of the criminal charges against him. Later, the Buenos Aires Provincial Supreme Court sustained the jail sentence against him. Juan Pablo Gallego, the lawyer of the victim, pledged for an arrest of the priest on immediate effect.
On the other hand, Fr Grassi, 57, continued to insist that he was innocent of the criminal charges against him. Even though he has been under house arrest for years, he was freed for a brief period. He is also accused of sexually abusing other children from the orphanage. Nevertheless, every other charge against him has been dismissed due to lack of evidence.
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