FRANCE
GMA News
Published June 9, 2017
ORLEANS, France – The former bishop of the French city of Orleans was charged Thursday with failing to report a pedophile priest under his watch, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.
Andre Fort, who was bishop of Orleans from 2002 until his retirement in 2010, was charged by investigators in the northern city, according to Martin Pradel and Edmond-Claude Frety, lawyers for three alleged victims pressing civil charges against disgraced priest Pierre de Castelet.
De Castelet, 66, is accused of child abuse dating back to 1993 when he served as chaplain at a camp for young Christians and was charged in 2012. He also worked as a chaplain for the European Scouts movement.
It was Fort’s successor Jacques Blaquart who reported de Castelet to authorities after one of the alleged victims contacted him in 2011. Blaquart said last year that the case involved “eight or nine cases of the touching of minors, of victims aged around 12”.
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