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FRANCE
CAEN - A French court sentenced a Catholic priest to 18 years in prison for raping and molesting teen-agers and children entrusted to his care.
Fr. Rene Bissey, 56, former abbot of Caen and Mondeville parishes in Normandy, had been formally charged in 1998 with raping and sexually abusing 11 young boys. He had confessed to the charges.
At the close of the five-day trial, Bissey asked his victims for forgiveness.
"Thanks to prison and doctors, I realized that I was a criminal," said Bissey, who has already served some jail time for the charges. "I'm asking forgiveness for what I have done from the children and the families of the children who are here."
One victim, now 24, broke down in tears, covering his ears to block out testimony. He has said he was 12 years old when eight years of abuse began.
"We refuse to accept this request for pardon, which comes a bit late," said the lawyer for the families of the victims. Bissey is expected to appeal the court's decision.
Two psychiatrists who examined Bissey described him as an intelligent but calculating and obsessive man. One told the court that Bissey felt no guilt after molesting his victims but was disturbed to have shaken the trust of their parents. Another said Bissey displayed a "total lack of morality or sense of guilt ... and a total indifference toward his victims."
"Mr. Bissey is a true, perverted sexual pedophile," she told the court.
During the trial, Bissey testified that his confessors pardoned him and told him that "things would work out." Bp. Pierre Pican, who was placed under investigation for allegedly ignoring signs of Bissey's pedophilia, testified also, but refused to discuss any prior knowledge of the crimes.
AP 10/6/2000
Latest updating:
According to the main French newspapers,
Pierre Pican, 66 years old bishop of BAYEUX (Normandie, France)
has been accused to have covered "sexual abuse" on 11 minors,
committed by Renè Bassey a priest of his diocesis, which was
convicted - last year - to 18 years of jail.
According to his defense attorneys " he has the right to the professional
Secrecy " and " he had only superficial knowledge of the facts."
Witnesses and parents of the young victims let emerge another truth :
Mons. Pican (the bishop) knew the facts, and more than referring to
Psycotherapy, he transferred the priest to another place without infor-
ming the authorities. At the base of these revelation there is the mother
of one of the young victims, the association " Blue phone" for children
and also the " Abbé " Brion - a priest - who constituted himself as a
civil liability, because "…wounded in his honor and humiliated .." by the
behaviour of his superior the bishop Pierre Pican.
According to French code of law, the bishop risks up to 3 years of prison.
The French Bishop Conference under the great weight of scandals in recent
years - 19 priest incriminated and 30 condemned in the last few years -,
has invited - a cleansing af all - allowing the defense of the minors and of
justice, to prevail over the professional and confession secrecy, which would
not be violated , if the g u i l t y one , rather than been covered , would
be morally convinced to go to the authorities .
Cardinal Billé, the president of the French Bishops Conference said :
After an anonimous denounciation, I referred to the Minister of Justice."
(translated from "European News " June 15 , 2001)
and from :
LONDON, England - A Roman Catholic priest was jailed for 30 months for sexually abusing seven boys at his church in south London between 1977 and 1983.
Fr. James Murphy, 53, admitted 11 charges of indecent assault at Inner London Crown Court, including one incident when he groped an 11-year-old boy after conducting a funeral mass.
The case will heap more embarrassment on the Roman Catholic Church after Abp. Cormac Murphy-O'Connor admitted last week that he made a mistake in the 1980s by allowing a pedophile to carry on working as a priest.
But Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the church in England and Wales, defended the decisions he made during his previous appointment as bishop in southern England. He said they were not irresponsible given the facts then available to him.
The priest, Fr. Michael Hill, was jailed in 1997 for abusing nine boys over a 20-year period.
The BBC said it had “unequivocal, damning evidence” that Murphy-O’Connor was well aware of warnings about Hill's activities and the “high risk” that he would reoffend.
The revelations could not have come at a worse time. Anger at pedophiles is running higher than ever in Britain over the disappearance and murder of 8-year-old Sarah Payne, whose naked body was found in a field on July 17, 16 days after she went missing.
Reuters 7/28/2000, 7/19
I do find the articles contain many , many similarities….!
Greetings, J.C. MacHislopp