Prosecutor says priest identities withheld to protect victims

Lithuania’s Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė said the prosecution service did not intend to conceal priests’ alleged criminal acts or identities, but withheld their names to protect victims, LRT reported.

Grunskienė said the prosecution service routinely publishes suspects’ names when a pretrial investigation is completed or another decision is made.

“We certainly do not have a practice of concealing [them]. In this specific case, the prosecution service neither intended to conceal nor concealed the identities of the clergy and priests. But our aim was to protect the identities of the victims,” she said.

Grunskienė added that the prosecution service would not have announced the completion of the investigations or provided information about them if its aim had been to hide the alleged crimes.

Prosecutor Justas Laucius had previously said the priests’ names were not published because they were not public figures. Grunskienė said there was no specific answer as to whether clergy members qualified as public figures, adding that the priority was protecting victims.

During a meeting with Grunskienė, Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas discussed proposed amendments to the Code on the Enforcement of Sentences. If adopted, the changes would prevent people convicted of crimes against children from being released early.

Olekas said he supported the idea of a public register of sex offenders. He also called for greater public vigilance and urged people to report suspicions of crimes against children rather than waiting for lengthy confirmation.

The speaker has also asked to meet Vilnius Archbishop Gintaras Grušas, although a date has not yet been set. He asked the chair of the Seimas Committee on Legal Affairs and Law Enforcement to review the legal framework for preventing and investigating such crimes at the committee’s next meeting.

According to BNS, cases involving two priests accused of sex crimes against children were referred to court this summer.

One priest is accused of sex crimes against 11 minors in 34 alleged criminal episodes, ranging from forcing children to consume alcohol to sexual assault. The alleged crimes took place over 23 years, from 2002 to 2025. The case was 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.

Social Security and Labour Minister Inga Ruginienė said on Monday that checks of the special QR codes required for working with children would be tightened among priests. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said he supported establishing a public register of people convicted of sex crimes.