Will Bernard Preynat be released from prison before he has even served the end of his sentence? Sentenced in March 2020 to five years of criminal imprisonment for having sexually assaulted children for nearly two decades, the former priest made a request for a reduced sentence due to his state of health deemed “worrying” by his lawyer, revealed Progress this Tuesday.
Contacted about this by 20 minutes, Frédéric Doyez did not respond to our request. Considering that his client’s vital prognosis was in jeopardy, the lawyer had already made a request for release in 2023. Permission which was granted to him last summer before the Lyon prosecutor’s office appealed this decision, in light of a medical expertise concluding that Bernard Preynat’s condition did not require immediate release.
Nearly 3,000 victims?
Aged 78, the ex-priest allegedly abused nearly 3,000 minors between the 1970s and 1990s, according to a count established by the civil parties during the hearing during which the accused declared: “It could have been four or five children each camp week.”
Only ten victims, for whom the facts were not prescribed, were able to file a complaint. They were heard at length during the trial, describing in detail the abuse suffered and the trauma caused.