Prosecutors send priest’s case alleging 34 crimes against 11 young people

Lithuania’s General Prosecutor’s Office has sent a criminal case against a Roman Catholic priest to the Vilnius Regional Court over alleged sexual offences against young people, LRT reported. Prosecutors say the offences may have been committed over 23 years, from 2002 to 2025.

According to Justas Laucius, chief prosecutor at the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the priest faces charges over 34 intentional offences classified as moderately serious, serious and very serious. One charge concerns the sexual assault of a young child, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

The priest is also accused in two cases of possessing pornographic material depicting a child, and in at least 13 cases of involving a child in drinking. The charges include nine episodes in which a child was exploited for pornography and four cases involving the sexual abuse of a person under 16.

Prosecutors have identified three episodes in which the priest may have obtained sexual gratification for payment by violating a minor’s freedom of sexual self-determination. He is also accused of raping minors in two cases and of sexually assaulting a young child in one case.

Eleven people who were aged between 12 and 18 at the time have been recognised as victims. Most of the alleged offences were committed at residences belonging to the Catholic Church where the priest lived, in six different locations in Lithuania.

The priest has been ordered not to leave the country and has had his documents seized. His Lithuanian passport was taken. Because the case includes civil claims, his right to dispose of his real estate has also been restricted.

Laucius said the case was connected to another case sent to court in June. In that case, another priest who worked in the Vilnius Archdiocese is accused of possessing pornographic material depicting children.

Laucius said prosecutors were cooperating constructively with the Vilnius Archdiocese in both cases. Both priests have been removed from pastoral duties.

In July, the Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference, the Catholic Church’s highest collegiate institution in Lithuania, said it had received two reports in 2025 concerning possible sexual abuse of minors. The bishops declined to comment while investigations were under way, and it was unclear whether the information had been passed to law enforcement.

Kristina Mišinienė, head of the Centre Against Trafficking in Human Beings and Exploitation, said the Church’s approach was worrying because it appeared to acknowledge that the institution was addressing the problem while withholding important details.

Religion commentator and communications specialist Toma Bružaitė, who belongs to the Svarbus reikalas initiative promoting greater attention by the Catholic Church to sexual abuse cases, said believers were also seeking a clearer position from the Church and answers on whether possible victims receive justice and assistance.

“In my view, what is important today is to restore trust, both within the Church and in society,” she said.

Mykolas Sotničenka, a priest and representative of the Vilnius Archdiocese curia, told BNS that he would not comment on the case for now. He said the archdiocese would issue a statement after the General Prosecutor’s Office’s press conference and once more information was available.