Ombudswoman urges reporting of alleged abuse by priests

Alina Jakavonienė, Lithuania’s Child Rights Protection Ombudswoman, has said that a person’s status or authority must not prevent investigations into alleged sexual offences against minors, LRT reported.

Jakavonienė said information about charges brought against Roman Catholic priests had been shocking, but could also give courage to people who were still silent.

“It is not too late to speak out, authority is not immunity, and a victim’s truth does not lose its importance simply because many years have passed,” she wrote on social media.

In one case sent to court, a priest is accused of 34 criminal acts. Eleven people have been recognised as victims, and they were aged between 12 and 18 when the alleged offences took place. Prosecutors say the alleged acts span 23 years, from 2002 to 2025.

Jakavonienė stressed that the courts would determine the guilt of specific individuals and that the presumption of innocence must be observed. However, she said the period covered by the allegations raised questions about whether children can safely speak out when the person they would report is trusted, respected or holds a position of authority.

She said children should be taught to recognise inappropriate behaviour by adults, understand that their bodies belong to them and know that they can and should tell a trusted adult about inappropriate touches, requests or secrets that are used to make them stay silent.

“It does not matter who that person is: a relative, teacher, coach, clergyperson or another adult with authority. No one has the right to exploit a child’s trust, vulnerability or silence,” Jakavonienė wrote.

She also said adults could not remain silent. Possible sexual violence against a child must not be concealed or handled behind closed doors within a family, school, sports, religious or other community, she said.

According to Jakavonienė, no internal institutional procedure, hierarchy or internal assessment of circumstances can replace the duty to inform competent state institutions about a possible criminal offence against a child.

“Reporting is not accusing. Reporting gives those responsible for investigations the opportunity to verify the information, establish what happened and protect the child,” she wrote, adding that the duty to report is established by law and that failure to report a known or committed very serious crime can carry criminal liability in cases set out by law.

Jakavonienė said some children who experience sexual violence still remain silent, while some people speak about violence suffered in childhood only many years later. She said she hoped the cases and law enforcement actions would send them an important message: a person’s status, position or authority is not an obstacle to investigating their actions.