A priest who abused children and adolescents over many years has been handed a 12-year jail sentence by a Cologne court. The archdiocese where he worked has denied any responsibility.
A court in the western German city of Cologne on Friday convicted a Catholic priest of sexually abusing children in cases spanning many years, sentencing him to 12 years in prison.
The priest was also ordered to pay three co-plaintiffs in the damages of the case totaling €50,000 ($56,000).
The conviction comes as the German Catholic Church is under intense scrutiny after revelations of decades of sexual abuse of children and misconduct toward minors by church employees, including in the Cologne Archdiocese.
