An investigation was opened in the early 1990s. The man is currently accused of a single act of assault, which is now prescribed.
The victim of the man who was at the time a priest in the Sundgau region, in southern Alsace, was a 13-year-old mass servant. The canon, who denies any inappropriate gesture, "has been in contact with a lot of young people, organized summer camps, in France and abroad," said the prosecutor of the Republic of Mulhouse.