WARSAW (POLAND)
Agence France-Presse
Oct. 9, 2019
Pedophile acts by a Catholic priest in the 1980s were like “torture”, a Polish court has said, as it lifted the statute of limitation and ordered compensation to the victim – an unprecedented decision in Poland.
The appeals court in the northern city of Gdansk ordered the accused priest, his former parish and diocese to pay 400,000 zlotys (92,500 euros) to Marek Mielewczyk, 50, the victim of sexual abuse from 1982-87.
“Sexually abusing minors unaware of the criminal nature of the acts perpetrated on them is to treat others in a humiliating and inhumane manner, which is the same as torture,” judge Dorota Gierczak said, according to the PAP news agency on Tuesday, October 8.
The judge said the statute of limitation did not apply because it involved “acts incompatible with the rules of society”.
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