Priest found guilty of gross indecency with child

Piotr Antoni Glas's offences occurred between 2004 and 2007, the Royal Court was told

A former Catholic priest in Jersey has been found guilty of three counts of gross indecency with a child.

Piotr Antoni Glas's offences occurred between 2004 and 2007 while he was a priest in the island, the Royal Court in Jersey was told.

Glas, 61, was remanded in custody until Friday, when a date for sentencing will be fixed.

Jersey Police said the victim had shown "a tremendous amount of courage" to report the abuse.

'Manipulative and controlling'

The police officer in charge of the investigation said after the verdicts that Glas used his position to groom his victim and others who trusted him.

Det Con Caroline Foord said the case highlighted "the serious nature of an abuse of authority".

She also said it showed "the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions, regardless of their position or standing in the community".

She said: "Glas used his position, as an influential member of the Catholic clergy, to groom his victim and others who trusted him.

"His offending behaviours were both manipulative and controlling in nature."

She added that the victim, who cannot be named, had shown a "tremendous amount of courage" to report the abuse "not only to seek justice to what had happened to them in the past, but also to safeguard others in the future".

"We do not underestimate the significant challenges faced by the victim from the time the offending occurred, to reporting this matter to the police and throughout the investigation," she said.

She added that Jersey Police would do "their utmost to bring those offenders to justice".

The guilty verdicts and two further non guilty verdicts to the same offence followed unanimous decisions from the jury.