Priest’s acquaintance also charged in child pornography case

A woman has also been charged in the case against priest Ryšardas Peciunas over alleged possession of child pornography, LRT reports. Both defendants deny the charges.

The Vilnius City District Court said the two defendants are accused under Article 309, paragraph 2, of Lithuania’s Criminal Code. Prosecutors allege that they used information and communications technologies to obtain and unlawfully possess pornographic material depicting a child or a person presented as a child. The case is being heard behind closed doors.

The woman, Barbara Leščevska, is represented by lawyer Tomas Januškevičius. He told LRT that his client is accused only of possessing the images, not of sharing them.

Januškevičius said the images found on Leščevska’s digital devices included photographs of children of family members and close friends playing, bathing or using an inflatable pool. He said the photographs had no vulgar or sexual context and argued that the court should assess how each image was created, obtained and stored, as well as the relationship between the person who kept it and the child shown.

The lawyer said the photographs had been shared within a larger group of friends and were taken around a decade ago. He added that Leščevska is acquainted with Peciunas but has no connection with the Church. Peciunas also did not deny that the two defendants have known each other for a long time, according to an interview with 15min.

The court is due to begin examining the case in mid-September. Peciunas has been temporarily suspended from his duties, and the case was referred to court in June.

According to information published by the Vilnius Archdiocese, Peciunas was born in 1974 and ordained as a priest in 1999. In 2021, he was appointed pastor of the parishes of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rūdiškės and St John the Baptist in Paluknys.