Activist Italian priest arrested on charges of abusing young men

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

August 3, 2019

By Claire Giangravè

An Italian priest known for involvement in his community was placed under house arrest by local authorities on Wednesday, on charges of allegedly drugging and sexually abusing adult members of his parish.

“The news of the arrest of Father Stefano Segalini and the precautionary measures applied by the judiciary pain us deeply,” said Father Luigi Chiesa, Vicar General of the Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio in northern Italy where the events allegedly took place, in an August 1 statement.

“The pain of those who declare themselves to be victims of abuse, as well as the pain of he who finds himself accused of such a great crime, requires first of all our closeness and prayer,” Chiesa said.

Segalini led the church of San Giuseppe Operaio, the most frequented parish in the northern Italian town of Piacenza, until last May when he suddenly retired. An arrest warrant issued by a judge after preliminary investigations claims that Segalini allegedly abused adults not in the parish, but during spiritual retreats and evening activities.

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.