Polish priest charged with sex crimes gets 18 months in jail

WARSAW, Poland – A Polish priest was sentenced to 18 months in jail for sex and drug crimes, state news agency PAP reported on Tuesday, after an incident in which a man reportedly collapsed during an orgy at his home.

According to Polish media reports, a man collapsed at the party after taking too many erectile dysfunction pills. One of the partygoers called an ambulance, but when paramedics arrived they were refused entry and were only able to attend to the man after police were called, according to the reports.

The diocese’s press office did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The priest, referred to as Tomasz Z due to Polish privacy laws, was sentenced for sexual offences, the supply of drugs and failing to provide assistance to a person in danger of loss of life or serious bodily harm.

He was also ordered to pay the victim 15,000 zlotys ($3,820) in damages and to pay several thousand zlotys to a fund set up to help the victims of crime.

Due to the nature of the case the trial took place behind closed doors, PAP reported. The agency cited sources as saying there will be no appeal.

The Diocese of Sosnowiec in southwest Poland has been engulfed in scandal since reports of the sex party in the town of Dabrowa Gornicza emerged last year.

The bishop of the diocese stepped down, the Vatican said at the time, without giving a reason for his resignation. Tomasz Z was discharged from the clergy last year after the media reports. ($1 = 3.9264 zlotys) — Reuters