Catholic priest sentenced to life imprisonment for raping teen boy in 2015

The parents of the victim had filed a complaint in December 2015, and the priest was arrested

On Wednesday, a special POCSO court in Mumbai sentenced a Catholic priest to life imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old boy in 2015.

The teen boy was sodomized by Father Johnson Lawrence in a church. The parents of the victim filed a complaint in December 2015, and the priest was arrested. The priest has been in jail since then.

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

Special public prosecutor Veena Shelar had examined nine witnesses to prove the case against the accused.

The FIR filed by the victim's parents stated, the young boy regularly visits the church for prayer, and in August 2015 he was asked to stay back alone one day when he was allegedly abused. 
The boy who belongs from an economically weaker background did not open up to his parents immediately. He was afraid of the repercussions. The prosecutor said he had fallen sick and was hospitalized at a civic hospital. 
However, his behavior was changed at home, he appeared scared and did not open up when asked if something might be wrong, the FIR read.

On November 27, the family went to church again and the boy was sodomized by the father again, who asked him to take a box to his office from 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 the event later that night to his mother, the prosecutor said.

The defense counsel Rasal questioned the police officer, who produced the priest for the first time post the arrest, to show the initial statement of the child did not mention the August allegation but, the document filed in the charge sheet included the paragraph. Rasal argued that the case is "fabrication of documents".

The prosecution examined the doctor apart from the child who was deposed. The reasoned conviction judgment will be available later.

The order read, "As the accused is convicted under section 6 of the POCSO Act, no separate sentence is imposed for the offense punishable under section 377 (unnatural offenses) under Indian Penal Court." Also, the court has recommended the case to the district legal services authority for compensation to be paid to the victim.