Former Father Preynat begs forgiveness from his victims and the Church

The former parish priest of the diocese of Lyon, prosecuted for "sexual abuse of minors under the age of fifteen by a person with authority", risks ten years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros. On the last day of Bernard Preynat's trial, the public prosecutor Dominique Sauves asked the court to sentence him "to a prison sentence of not less than eight years".

After the overwhelming testimonies of the ten victims not prescribed, these former little scouts of the Saint-Luc parish who underwent for years the sexual touching of the one who led them to summer camps, gave them catechism, or asked them to serve the Mass at his side, the representative of the prosecution struck another blow: "He is nothing but a pedophile in series". "And a single victim would be enough to sentence him to ten years in prison. It is an astonishing, serious and frightening file, "she summed up, echoing the psychiatric experts who had mentioned having" an extraordinary case ".

"He has grossly abused his status"

Nothing in the profile or the attitude of this 75-year-old man served as extenuating circumstances. Nor the sexual touching which he revealed at trial to have been the victim in his childhood at the hands of religious. Neither the denial of the Church, nor the blindness of the parents of the boys, nor the fact that he assumes all that is accused of him, nor his requests for forgiveness presented and repeated to each victim. "He outrageously abused his status, abused the blind trust of parents who entrusted their children to him," said the magistrate.

Not easy to defend a man who alone symbolizes the scandal of pedophilia in the Church. The defendant's lawyer, Me Frédéric Doyez, said that he felt very alone in this task. "What the prosecutor claims is completely excessive and is a form of injustice", according to the counsel of the former parish priest, reduced to a secular state since the Church itself condemned it. He pleaded the trial of another era, "a bygone era, because you judge him thirty years later, and you can't judge him the same way".

Doubts expressed about the end of the attacks from 1991

The defender of Bernard Preynat also highlighted the sincerity of his client, who assumed the allegations to the point of accusing himself of new facts, more serious still, of the rapes, prescribed. His "sincerity" still when he assures that since 1991, he has never touched a young little boy, despite the fantasies that still tapped him. "What stopped him?" Asked the lawyer. The word of the bishop? Or his word given to his bishop? It is rather that! "

The prosecutor, like some civil parties, expressed their doubts about this brutal and final cessation of the attacks. “Since 1991, nothing has happened. I'm sure he would have said it if it had been. He is certainly agitated by demons, but he masters them. Trust is something that can work, ”said Me Doyez.

But the defender of the former pedophile priest, also made himself accuser, denouncing the environment of this case. Starting with the release of the film "Grâce à Dieu" by director François Ozon, just a few days before the opening of the trial of Cardinal Barbarin for complicity in this affair. "I did everything to ban this film. What I blame him for is the moment of his production, ”said Frédéric Doyez, who ultimately lost that fight.

Before the end of his trial, Bernard Preynat took the opportunity to speak last. He walked over to the bar with a piece of paper in his hand, which he read to repeat the messages broadcast during this week of hearing. "I came to court with the desire to be loyal in acknowledging the attacks I have been the author of, those that are not prescribed, like the others," assured the septuagenarian. Before continuing: “I did not lie, I was sincere in my answers and in the reservations I expressed on certain accusations. I was sincere within the limits of my memory ”.

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Also for the last time, ex-father Preynat presented his requests for forgiveness. "They are reiterated from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely regret having taken my sexual pleasure in reprehensible gestures. I also apologize to the other priests of the diocese, to the Church soiled by my actions. ”

The court's decision will be released on March 16.