A court has sentenced a former Romanian Orthodox bishop to eight years in prison for rape in the first case of its kind in the country.
The Galați Court of Appeal delivered the verdict on June 28 after a closed-doors trial. The sentence can be appealed.
Corneliu Onilă, former bishop of Husi, is convicted of the sexual abuse and rape of two theological students at the „Ioan Gură de Aur” seminary in Huși, where he was a teacher.
Former abbot and chief monk at the Huși Episcopate, Sebastian Jitaru, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for rape and sexual assault in the same case.
The court ruled that the injured parties will receive 50,000 euros compensation, while one who was a victim of both men, will receive 70,000 euros.
Corneliu Barladeanu as he is also known, was the bishop of Husi from 2009-2017 when he was forced to step down after he appeared in a tape engaging in sexual relations with a minor male student.
The Huși Diocese issued a press release after Friday’s conviction saying it had “no canonical connection” with the retired bishop since August 2017.
The church accepted the bishop’s resignation during a two-day Holy Synod in 2017 where a sex scandal was discussed for the first time. At that time, the former bishop claimed it was a case of blackmail and lodged a complaint with the anti-corruption agency against Father Jitaru who reportedly blackmailed the bishop with the sex tape to get a promotion.
After the allegations surfaced, Father Barladeanu withdrew to the Varatec Monastery as a monk.
Prosecutors reopened the case in 2019, after a series of articles published by Sa Fie Lumina, a publication that investigates cases of wrongdoing in different churches
Some 85% of Romanians belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church.
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In first case of its kind, former Romanian Orthodox bishop to face rape charges
