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20 boys accuse priest of abuse
05/04/2006 16:17 - (SA)
Rome - Italian authorities arrested a priest on Wednesday and accused him of repeatedly abusing about 20 children from his parish south of Rome over more than a decade, police said.
Officers picked up Father Marco Agostini at a youth hostel in the Umbrian town of Assisi where he had been transferred last year after spending a decade in the small town of Pomezia, said Alberto Intini, head of the crime squad at Rome's police headquarters.
Prosecutors have collected testimony on "hundreds" of abuse cases from about 20 boys who claim they were sexually molested by Agostini between 1993-2004, Intini said.
The children were 13 or older at the time and were part of a group that congregated at the San Benedetto church in Pomezia, he said.
Agostini, 43, was arrested for the crime of sexual abuse against minors. Two other priests from Pomezia are accused of knowing about the abuse and of covering for Agostini. They are being investigated for aiding and abetting a crime, he said.
Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi, told AP Television News that he was not aware of the case and didn't know Agostini.
"Naturally, I am very sorry," he said.
No one was available for comment at the diocese of Albano, which oversees the parish of Pomezia.
- AP
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