Accused paedophile priest found dead in Poland

WARSAW: A Polish Catholic priest accused of paedophilia in Germany and of similar crimes in his home country was found dead Friday, his body badly burned, at the foot of his family grave.

Identified only as Boguslaw P, he had been on trial in Poland for offences allegedly committed in 2004 and 2005 against a child in Pocking in the German state of Bavaria, where he had served as a priest.

He was also suspected of having committed criminal acts against two boys a decade ago in Turka, southeastern Poland.

"The body was identified by a friend," Miroslaw Buczek, a prosecutor in Zamosc, eastern Poland, told AFP. He said a suicide could neither be confirmed nor ruled out.

A knife and a bottle filled with flammable liquid were found next to the body which was partially burned, Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza daily said online.

Last Tuesday, the priest had been questioned by police on the allegations in Turka. The next day, a court decided to release him from police custody on condition he would not leave or approach his alleged victims.

The priest maintained he was innocent of all the charges against him.

Despite several cases of child sex abuse by Catholic priests in Poland, there has been no widespread public outcry in the country of 38 million where over 90 percent of the population declares itself Roman Catholic.