Spain Nearly 70 suspects in sexual offenses against children uncovered in Spain – religious workers suspected

In Spain the prosecutor’s office investigates a total of 68 suspected sexual offenses against children related to the activities of the catholic church and other religious communities.

The news agency Reuters and Spanish newspaper El País.

Persons working in religious communities are suspected of crimes. Authorities say crimes have taken place in 17 different areas in parishes, schools and various religious institutions. Most cases have been reported in Catalonia.

According to El País, not only the Catholic Church but also other religious communities, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, are suspected of crimes.

Investigation is the result of an attempt by the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office to outline the extent of sexual crime within the Catholic Church. At the end of January, the public prosecutor ordered district prosecutors to send information on pending sexual offenses.

The figure therefore does not include previous convictions. Also, some cases are never settled in court, for example because of silencing victims.

In one case mentioned by El País, a priest in a Catholic church had committed 14 sexual exploitations of seven children. The criminal case is awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court.

Catholic Church-related sexual offenses have been widely reported in Spain this winter, when El País published an article two months ago on as many as 1,200 cases from 1943-2018.

In January, the Spanish Episcopal Conference said it would set up commissions to which victims of crime could address their grievances. Last week, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchezin the ruling party proposed the establishment of an independent committee to investigate abuses.

The Spanish Catholic Church also has its own website where information on abuses is collected from victims to be sent directly to the Vatican. The church also encourages victims to report crimes to regional authorities.