WARSAW, Poland – A priest in central Poland has been sentenced to more than eight years after being convicted of sexually abusing five boys.
The court also banned the 49-year-old priest from approaching his five victims, who were under the age of 15 at the time of the abuse, and from teaching children in the future. The priest was only identified as Slawomir S. because of Polish privacy practices.
The verdict is subject to appeal, court spokeswoman Grazyna Jezewska said Monday.
The priest, who pleaded not guilty, was arrested in April after one of his victims said he was abused between 2007 and 2008.
The court in Rawa Mazowiecka, 90 kilometers (55 miles) southwest of Warsaw, heard that the priest won the boys' trust by lending them money and charging their phone cards.
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