A priest from the diocese of Martinique was charged with rape over the weekend and was remanded in custody, the Fort-de-France prosecutor’s office told Agence France-Presse on Sunday (December 4).
The man, in his 50s, who was a hospital chaplain, is being prosecuted “for rape by a person who abused the authority bestowed on him by his position.” He was remanded in Ducos prison in the center of the Caribbean island.
The facts date back to 2019 and concern an alleged victim, prosecutors revealed; others appear in the record, but without causing the moment of continuation against the man of the Church.
The crimes were reported by the archdiocese of Martinique “in accordance with the protocol for transmitting reports of sexual abuse within the church to the judiciary,” the archdiocese said in a press release. The alleged rapist was arrested on Thursday following this report.
“Immeasurable Sadness” of the Archbishop
“It is very important that a person can speak and trust the authorities,” Martinique Archbishop David Macaire told local radio RCI. “Personally, it’s a great sadness,” he added. The archdiocese says it has set up a “neutral and confidential” listening cell to “receive each case in the most appropriate manner.”
In October 2021, the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church counted only one victim in Martinique among the six victims reported abroad. A number that was considered far below reality at the time.
On November 6, a priest in the diocese of Rennes was charged in Paris and taken into custody for “serious rape of a teenager” and “provocation of a minor to take drugs”. The 50-year-old is suspected of having administered a substance to a 15-year-old teenager, whom he met through an application, without his knowledge in order to alter his judgment and control of his actions.
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