French priest indicted for aggravated rape of a minor in Paris

A French priest has been indicted in Paris for the aggravated rape of a teenager he reportedly met on the gay dating app, Grindr. 

A French priest has been indicted in Paris for the aggravated rape of a teenager he reportedly met on the gay dating app, Grindr.  © AP Photo/Thibault Camus

The indicted priest who officiated over the parish at the church of Saint-Louis-Marie in Brocéliande in Brittany, is suspected of having drugged a 15-year-old he met on a dating application on 3 November, before raping him in a Parisian hotel room.

The teenager subsequently fell ill and called friends who then contacted emergency services.

According to a source familiar with the affair, the 51-year-old priest told police that he did not know the young man was a minor – the latter having declared on the Grindr dating application that he was an adult. 

He has been remanded in custody.

The Archbishop of Rennes, Pierre d'Ornellas announced on Thursday that he had reported the case to Catholic Church officials in Rome and said his diocese would cooperate with French authorities. 

Déclaration de #MgrPierredOrnellas, archevêque de Rennes après la mise en examen de l’abbé Yannick Poligné. pic.twitter.com/cWCq0yCWfh

— Diocèse de Rennes (@DioceseRennes) November 10, 2022

Series of scandals

"I can only guess how many men and women would be scandalised by this information. I understand it and assure everyone of my determination to act," d'Ornellas said in a statement, adding he would be visiting the parishioners of Saint-Louis-Marie in Brocéliande at the weekend.

The Catholic Church has been shaken by a series of scandals of sexual violence – including the confessions this week of Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, who revealed that he had conducted himself "reprehensibly" with a 14-year-old girl in the 1980s.

The prosecutor's office in Marseille has ordered a preliminary investigation for aggravated sexual assault.

• Report finds French Catholic clergy sexually abused more than 200,000 children

In mid-October, French media revealed that Michel Santier, former bishop of Créteil who retired in 2021, had been sanctioned that same year by the Vatican for "spiritual abuse having led to voyeurism on two adult men".  

The president of the Conference of Bishops, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort announced Monday, that 11 bishops or former bishops had been implicated in sexual abuse cases and were facing civil justice or the justice of the Church.