French bishop faces criminal charge for failure to report abuse
June 12, 2017
A retired French bishop faces criminal charges for his alleged failure to report sexual abuse.
According to prosecutors, Bishop André Fort, the former head of the Diocese of Orleans, was aware of the abuse committed by a priest who now faces charges for molesting several boys in the 1990s. Two other bishops of Orleans, René-Lucien Picandet and Gerard Daucourt—both now deceased—also reportedly were aware of the priest’s misconduct and took no action.
Bishop Jacques Blaquart restricted the accused priest’s ministry soon after taking over leadership of the Orleans diocese, and eventually suspended him from ministry.
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