Classic: Male Victim of New Diocesan Chancellor Commited Later Similar Crimes
In 1994, Abbé Spina was a chaplain at a Catholic high school in the Diocese of Bayonne.
The victim, Frédéric, was a psychologically fragile boy. He came from a family where the father was absent and occasionally violent. His single mother was raising five children, one of whom was disabled.
Abbé Spina became Frédéric’s spiritual guide.
The sexual abuse began in September 1992 and continued until June 1994. It consisted of forced kissing, masturbation and fellatio. Frédéric was aged 16 and 17.
Abuse Victim Wants to Become Priest Himself
Frédéric wanted to enter the priestly seminary, but Abbé Spina prevented him from doing so. However, Frédéric managed to begin the propaedeutic course in Namur, Belgium. He dropped out after a few weeks.
Back in southwestern France, he reconnected with Abbé Spina, and successfully entered the Bayonne seminary in 1996.
After reporting the abuse — first to his confessor and then to the seminary director — he was dismissed four months later in 1998 due to his 'lack of maturity'. The seminary rector cast doubt on Frédéric's testimony.
In February 2002, the victim filed a complaint against the priest.
Abbé Spina first admitted to the sexual assaults, but tried to downplay his guilt in court. He claimed that he had used the wrong term when admitting to 'fellatio' in police hearings. The priest blamed "harassment" by the police for his confession and spoke of "a shared romantic relationship".
The victim denied any consensual relationship.
Psychiatric assessments concluded that Abbé Spina lacked a sense of guilt and exhibited narcissistic and perverse personality traits.
On 14 May 2005, he was sentenced to five years in prison, one of which was suspended.
First Victim, Then Perpetrator
Frédéric became a history and geography teacher.
However, in June 2015, he showed a pornographic video on his mobile phone to three minor students during a school trip to Nîmes, which resulted in his dismissal from the school.
In March 2016, he was accused of corrupting minors and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old female student. He admitted to having a "special relationship" with the girl, but denied raping her. The formal investigation was triggered when the girl’s parents, alarmed by her “suspicious messages”, filed a complaint.
In February 2019, Frédéric was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence for the sexual assault of minors.
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