Veryga urges Lithuania to create public sex offender register

Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union chairman Aurelijus Veryga has urged the creation of a public register of sex offenders following recent allegations against priests, LRT reported, citing BNS.

Veryga said earlier concerns that such a register could duplicate the Register of Suspects, Accused Persons and Convicts were unfounded.

“These are bureaucratic excuses, of which we hear a great deal. I hope that this time the shock will be so great that politicians will have enough resolve to approve the register, because they have lacked it several times,” Veryga told Žinių radijas on Wednesday.

Under rules in force since November 2024, people seeking to work with children must have a special QR code confirming that they have not been convicted of serious or sexual offences. The data is taken from the Register of Suspects, Accused Persons and Convicts, which is not public.

Discussion of a register for people convicted of sexual offences resumed after prosecutors sent two cases involving priests accused of sexual offences against children to the courts.

Veryga said such incidents should not become an excuse to broadly discredit the Catholic Church.

“If a doctor is caught being a paedophile, will you stop going to hospital for treatment? Or if it is a police officer, will you stop calling the police when something happens? This story should not be turned into a way to smear the Church as a whole. The problem must be addressed,” he said.

According to BNS, one priest is accused of sexual offences against 11 minors. Law enforcement officials recorded 34 criminal episodes, ranging from forcing children to consume alcohol to sexually assaulting them. The offences allegedly took place over 23 years, from 2002 to 2025. The case has been referred to the Vilnius Regional Court.

In a separate case referred to the Vilnius City District Court, another priest is accused of possessing child pornography. There are no victims in that case.