Priest sentenced to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting minor in church

Mumbai, Dec 30: A special court POCSO court in Mumbai convicted and sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment a Catholic priest Father Johnson Lawrence for raping a young teenaged boy in 2015, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Notably, the boy was 13-year-old.

 

The teenaged boy was sodomized by Father Johnson Lawrence in a church. After his parents came to know about this heinous crime, they registered a complaint and the priest was arrested in December 2015 and he is in jail since then.

 

 

On Wednesday, Special POCSO court Judge Seema Jadhav pronounced judgment and found the accused guilty under sections 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act.

 

Reports suggest special public prosecutor Veena Shelar had examined nine witnesses to prove the case against the accused. Apart from that, the priest’s defence was one of complete denial. His counsel Avinash Rasal argued that there was no evidence against him

 

The parents had claimed that the young boy used to visit the Church regularly several times a week to pray and he was asked to stay back alone one day when he was allegedly abused. Hailing from an economically weak background, the victim did not utter a word or informed his parents as he was afraid of the repurcussions, according to the prosecutor.

 

 

However, he had fallen sick and had to be hospitalized at a civic hospital and his behavior at home changed, he appeared scared and did not open up when his parents asked if anything was wrong. One day, when his family went to Church and the boy was again abused by the priest who asked him to take a box to his office at around 8.15 pm to 8.30 pm, and threatened him to keep quiet about it, said the father of the boy. The child narrated what happened later that night to his mother, said the prosecution.

 

After this was proved in the court, it also recommended the case to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) for compensation to be paid to the victim.