Sexual abuse: A Ticino priest condemned but liberated suspended

“I think I was seduced by a demonic presence. I was emotionally confused, “said Lugano’s criminal court in a low voice, according to the” Tages Anzeiger “of the day. Between 2015 and 2023, he sexually abused nine boys and young men, four of whom were between 12 and 15 years old at the time of the facts.

As a teacher and chaplain of young people, the church man occupied a position of confidence and authority. According to the public prosecutor, he took advantage of vulnerability situations (parents’ divorce, anxiety attacks or lack of a paternal figure) to establish himself as support … before taking action.

Under the pretext of helping his victims, he offered them “relaxation massages”, which included touching in the genital zone. Four assaults took place in Collegio Papio, a Catholic establishment where the priest lived, in the daily contact of students.

The accused recognized certain assaults, while minimizing others by saying that he had massaged only the upper body. “I convinced myself that it was to help them. Today, I know it was mainly for me, ”he admitted. The prosecutor said he had carefully chosen his victims, established a bond of trust, then placed them in situations conducive to abuse. She demanded 5 and a half years in prison.

To everyone’s surprise, the judges retained only part of the charges, believing that several gestures had been short and over the clothes. The priest was therefore sentenced to 18 months suspended prison sentence, accompanied by a life ban to work with minors and ambulatory therapeutic follow -up. The ecclesiastics, which has been detained preventively since November, has been released immediately.