FRANCE
La Croix
Anne-Benedicte Hoffner, Celine Hoyeau and Marie Malzac
justice turn in Le MansAn alleged case of paedophilia is under investigation in the diocese of Le Mans, in the northwest of France.
Fr Max de Guilbert, who has always denied any wrongdoing, was detained on remand in June 2015 accused of the crime of rape and sexual assault by a person in authority of a minor under the age of 15.
The crimes were alleged to have been committed between 1993 and 2007 on young boys when de Guilbert was stationed in the parishes of Mamers (from 1993 to 1995) and Bonnetable (from 1995 to 2007) in the north of the department of Sarthe.
After a year of pre-trial detention, the priest was placed under house arrest and sent to an abbey in Brittany before being placed under judicial supervision.
The complainants are now thought to number around a dozen. In 1995, a family filed a complaint about improper touching, but the case was discontinued for lack of sufficient evidence.
The priest was transferred; his bishop, Jacques Faivre (who died in 2010) took no particular action.De Guibert’s file was sent to Rome, and an expert opinion by Fr Tony Anatrella (which is currently the subject of a canonical review) concluded that the priest was “an immature but non-paedophile personality”.
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