Priest’s case sent to court over alleged crimes against 11 minors

Lithuania’s General Prosecutor’s Office has sent to the Vilnius Regional Court a case against a Roman Catholic priest accused of 34 sexual and other offences against minors, LRT reports.

The priest, who worked in the Vilnius Archdiocese, is accused of crimes committed between 2002 and 2025. Prosecutors have not disclosed his name, saying he is not a public figure.

According to Justas Laucius, chief prosecutor of the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the charges include the sexual assault of a young child, the most serious offence in the case, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

The priest is also accused of possessing child pornography in two instances, involving children in alcohol consumption in at least 13 instances, and exploiting a child for pornography in nine episodes. In four cases, a person under the age of 16 may have been sexually abused.

Prosecutors also identified three episodes in which the priest may have paid to satisfy his sexual urges in violation of a minor’s sexual self-determination, as well as two cases in which he may have raped minors.

Eleven people have been recognised as victims. They were between 12 and 18 years old at the time of the alleged offences.

Most of the alleged crimes took place in the priest’s residences belonging to the Catholic Church in six different locations in Lithuania.

“No one complained. There may be criminological aspects to this, but in my opinion, that is one of the reasons,” Laucius said when asked why the alleged crimes had remained undisclosed for so long.

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

The case is linked to another case sent to court in June involving a different priest who also worked in the Vilnius Archdiocese. That priest is accused of possessing child pornography. The earlier case helped uncover the other priest’s alleged crimes, which may have continued for many years.

Laucius said there had been constructive cooperation with the Vilnius Archdiocese in both cases and that both priests had been removed from pastoral duties.

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