More than 600 objectionable photographs of children have been recovered from a priest in the American city of Los Angeles. This pastor was working in a church in Long Beach, Los Angeles area. The accused has been arrested after months of investigation.
America: Pastor has nude pictures of children
According to the American news website ‘Los Angeles Times’, Rodolfo Martínez Guevara (38), a Catholic priest from the Long Beach area of the city who was very senior in the church system, was arrested. Several reports against him were sent to the Missing Children Department. An investigation against the pastor was launched in April.
The investigation found that the priest was in possession of more than 600 child sexual abuse images. Most of the photographs in this were of children below the age of 12 years. Lawyers involved in the case say that the priest against whom these allegations are made is very powerful. Eric Nasarenko, a lawyer involved in the case, said, “The crimes of the accused defy belief and contain a large number of images of the sexual exploitation of children.”
Guevara will be presented before the court on Wednesday (September 13, 2023). Currently he is in police custody.
Switzerland: 1002 sexually abused by priests
Apart from this case, a shocking case has also come to light from Switzerland. A research here has found that since 1950 till now, church priests and other employees have committed more than 1000 sexual abuses.
A research conducted by the University of Zurich has revealed that more than 1000 sexual abuses were committed by Swiss Catholic priests and staff, out of which 74% of the victims were minors. For this research, victims were talked to and old cases were scrutinized. The surprising thing is that men have been exploited more. Research has shown that 56% of the victims were men while 39% were women, information about 5% could not be collected. Researchers have also said that this is a small sample of all crimes and the actual number could be much higher.
This post originally appeared on hindi.opindia.com