Kerala priest held in US for child porn

Thiruvananthapuram: Fr. Jose Palimattom, 48, a visiting priest from Kerala, was arrested in the US state of Florida, on Monday on charges of possession of pornography and distributing it to a minor.

Born on October 27, 1968, Fr Palimattom was given priestly in 1999. Sources said that he had been asked not to use Facebook and restricted from having access to minors without an adult presence.

Fr Palimattom is a priest of the Franciscan Province of St Thomas the Apostle in India and began serving a two-year residency in December 2014 at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach. He previously worked with the Benghazi Vicariate in Libya.

The allegation was that Fr Palimattom reportedly asked the victim, a 14 year old boy, to help him delete about 40 pornographic images of young boys from his phone.

He is also said to have admitted that while in India he was involved with a minor male and was reprimanded by his superiors. However that incident was not reported to the police then. He is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Officials of the Syro Malabar Church remained tight lipped on the issue. Church spokesman Fr Paul Thelakkat said that the matter has not come to his notice. If such a crime had taken place it is serious issue. It would be even intimated to the Vatican for action, Fr Thelakkat said.