Polish bishop convicted for failing to report abuse in unprecedented trial
Bishop Andrzej Jeż, 63, has served as led the Diocese of Tarnów since 2012.
Jarosław Kruk / Wikimedia Commons
In 2017, Poland introduced criminal liability and a maximum sentence of three years in prison for anyone who fails to report a crime immediately despite having reliable information about that crime.
A Polish court convicted a bishop of failing to notify law enforcement agencies about the alleged sexual abuse of children by two priests, in the first case of its kind.
On Thursday, the District Court in Tarnów in southern Poland sentenced Bishop Andrzej Jeż of Tarnów to two years’ restriction of liberty by means of a 25 per cent deduction from his salary, to be sent to the Empowering Children Foundation.
He denied both charges and the Tarnów Diocese Curia said it would appeal against the verdict. Prosecutors had asked the court for a sentence of 10 months in prison suspended for three years.
In 2017, Poland introduced criminal liability and a maximum sentence of three years in prison for anyone who fails to immediately report a crime despite having reliable information about that crime. Before 2017, reporting a crime was considered a social duty, not a legal obligation.
The case concerned two priests, identified under Polish law as Stanisław P. and Fr. Tomasz K., who were accused of sexually abusing dozens of children under the age of 15. Bishop Jeż only notified law enforcement agencies of the alleged crimes more than three years after the law took effect.
Proceedings against Stanisław P. were discontinued in 2022 due to the statute of limitations, as the alleged crimes took place before 2017. He has since been laicised. The proceedings against Fr. Tomasz K. are pending.
Bishop Jeż, 63, has served as led the Diocese of Tarnów since 2012. He is the first bishop to be tried in Poland for failing to report information about priests sexually abusing children.
“The judgment is not final and does not definitively determine the criminal liability of Bishop Andrzej Jeż. The defence lawyers will request a written justification of the judgment, and after reviewing its content and detailed analysis, an appeal will be made,” the Tarnów Curia said in a statement.
It said some of Stanisław P.’s alleged crimes took place when he was serving as a priest in Ukraine and they were reported to the relevant Ukrainian authorities. It said Bishop Jeż first learnt of the allegations in 2019.
The diocese initiated internal Church procedures and after verifying the information, Bishop Jeż’s delegate informed state law enforcement agencies in August 2020, it said.
The statement also said one of the victims of Stanisław P. had notified the District Prosecutor’s Office in Opole, southwestern Poland, about the alleged crimes in 2010.
In the second case, the Curia said Bishop Jeż was only notified that Fr. Tomasz K. had allegedly sexual abused a person under 15 towards the end of 2021, and he had notified law enforcement about it in December of that year.
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