Court sets September hearing in priest’s child pornography case

Vilnius City District Court will begin hearing the case against priest Ryšardas Peciunas, who is charged with possessing child pornography, on September 17, LRT reported. The hearing will be held behind closed doors, a court representative told BNS.

Peciunas has been placed under a written undertaking not to leave the country.

He is accused of possessing pornographic material depicting a child or a person presented as a child. The offence is punishable by a fine, restriction of liberty, arrest or up to four years in prison.

The same charge has also been brought against another person, Barbara Leščevska, an acquaintance of Peciunas who is not affiliated with the church, LRT reported on Friday.

Earlier this week, law enforcement authorities said a separate case had been sent to Vilnius Regional Court involving another priest accused of sexual offences against 11 minors. Investigators recorded 34 alleged criminal acts committed over 23 years, from 2002 to 2025.

The prosecutor’s office and the Vilnius Archdiocese have not disclosed the priest’s identity. Media reports have identified him as 56-year-old clergyman Tadas Švedavičius, who was ordained a priest on June 29, 2001. A date for the hearing of that case has not yet been set.