Former priest sentenced to 30 years in prison for child abuse in Spain.
The court said the priest took advantage of his position to inappropriately touch the boys' genitals, for example, while pretending to be playing in a swimming pool.
Reuters - Spain's Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced a former priest to 30 years in prison for abusing seven minors at a Catholic boarding school nearly a decade ago, when he worked as a tutor.
Allegations of child abuse by Catholic clergy and possible cover-ups by the Church have emerged in recent months in Spain, years after similar scandals rocked the Church in other countries such as the United States, Ireland, and France.
Church authorities were not immediately available for comment. The former priest had denied any wrongdoing in the past.
The religious authority in the central province of Ciudad Real dismissed the priest in 2019 and reported the case to prosecutors following an internal investigation into abuses committed while he was teaching male teenage students.
In its ruling, the court said he took advantage of his position to inappropriately touch the boys' genitals, for example, while pretending to be playing in a swimming pool or in private rooms under the pretense of medical "treatment."
The court ruled that the touching was "clearly sexual in nature." It also ordered the man to pay a fine of €52.920 and €2.000 in compensation to each of the victims.
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