To “pursue this stated will of the Church” to “combat child crime” within it with “all legal means”, the public prosecutor’s offices of Nice and Grasse decided to conclude Friday with the diocese of Nice, a protocol of reports of sexual abuse, “aiming at the transmission of reports in connection with pedocrime”.
“Encourage the opening of judicial investigations”
“This approach is the implementation of a recommendation of the Plenary Assembly of the Bishops of France of November 2021, following the publication of the report of the Independent Commission on sexual abuse in the Church” is it written in a press release. “It is part of a broader movement initiated by the Ministry of Justice tending to generalize the conclusion of such agreements, and to promote the opening of legal investigations in all situations that justify it”, specifies the document.
This signature was made between Xavier Bonhomme and Damien Savarzeix, respectively public prosecutors of Nice and Grasse, and Monsignor André Marceau, apostolic administrator of the diocese of Nice, in the presence of Bishop Jean-Phillipe Nault.
Jean-Marc Schoepff, former chaplain and Catholic priest from Nice, was indicted in 2018 for sexual assault on minors under the age of 15. His trial is expected to be held this year.