VATICAN CITY
Sky News

The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic is to stand trial for child sexual abuse.

Jozef Wesolowski was arrested and defrocked by the Roman Catholic Church last year, after allegations emerged that he had been paying young Dominican boys for sex.

The former archbishop is also accused of keeping child abuse material on his computer.

In a statement, the Vatican said its prosecutor had cooperated with authorities from the Dominican Republic as part of its investigation.

“These serious allegations will be scrutinised by the competent judicial body which will be assisted by both technical appraisals of the IT systems used by the defendant and, if necessary, international legal cooperation for the evaluation of testimonial evidence from the competent authorities in Santo Domingo,” the statement said.