VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The alleged victim of sexual abuse in a youth seminary in the Vatican said in court on Wednesday that his abuser wanted to have sex in a bathroom behind an altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, but he opposed the claims.
The alleged victim, now 28 and identified only as LG, testified at the final hearing of the trial against two priests, one accused of abuse and the other of concealing the attacks.
LG has claimed that Gabriele Martinelli, now 28 and now a priest, repeatedly forced him to have sex, usually while they were both underage at Pius X Pre-Seminary.
The seminary is home to altar boys who celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica – the papal domed church in the heart of the Vatican – and who are thinking of becoming priests.
The events are said to have occurred between 2007 and 2012 and Martinelli later became a priest in Northern Italy.
LG said Martinelli would slip into his bed at night and force him to touch him and also have sex in another room. Martinelli, who testified last month, has denied the allegations.
During a three-hour hearing on Wednesday, LG said Martinelli had tried to convince him to have sex in a bathroom behind one of the altars in St. Peter’s Basilica while both would be serving mass.
“I was shocked,” LG said, adding that he refused to follow Martinelli, who was naked under his counter, into the bathroom.
The other defendant is Father Enrico Radice, 72, who was rector at the time and who is accused of concealing the alleged abuse.
The prosecution says that Radice did not stop Martinelli from becoming a priest after leaving pre-seminary, even though he knew about the abuse.
Radice, who had given Martinelli supervisory responsibilities over the other altar boys, denies this.
Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alison Williams