SPAIN
The Local
A Spanish court has dropped charges against 11 out of 12 suspects in a clerical sex abuse scandal because the crimes fall within the statute of limitations, court papers showed on Monday.
The court in the southern city of Granada dropped charges of “sexual abuse with penetration, exhibitionism, and concealment of evidence” against nine priests and two laymen accused of abusing an altar boy, in a case that prompted an intervention by Pope Francis.
Ten Roman Catholic priests and two lay people were charged at the end of January, in a case that came to light after one of the victims petitioned the Pope.
But the court in the southern city of Granada, where the alleged abuse took place, ruled their accuser, now aged 25, should have brought a case within three years of turning 18.
One priest, however, is still charged with the more serious offence of “continued sexual abuse”, according to the ruling dated January 26th.
If convicted, the clergyman faces a jail sentence of up to 10 years. He and his 11 initial co-accused were charged last month with sexual abuse or complicity in the abuse of the teenager between 2004 and 2007.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.