Kochi: Catholic priest arrested for abusing minor boys

KOCHI: A Catholic priest who allegedly sexually abused the inmates of a boys’ home at Perumbadappu, near Palluruthy here, for several months was arrested on Sunday.

The accused Fr George alias Fr Jerry Tharepa-rambil, 40, is the director of a boys home run by the Church. He belongs to the Order of Discalced Carmelites (ODC).

The arrest was made on the basis of the statement of a victim and the complaint lodged by the boys’ parents with the Palluruthy police on Saturday night.

A few boys who escaped from the home were roaming at Kannamaly on Saturday evening when the police reached the spot after being alerted by the public.

The children told the police that  they had run out of the home for fear of the priest and his sexual abuse. The police took Fr George into custody from the boys’ home and also recorded his confession statement.

“A preliminary investigation on the complaint was conducted in the night itself and he was taken into custody. We have also collected the statement from one of the victims. More investigation is underway,” an official said.

His arrest was recorded on Sunday morning and he was presented before a magistrate who remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days, the cops said.

As per the statements collected from the boys, the priest had abused them multiple times since December 2018. The police said that most of the  children aged between 10 and 16 are from broken homes.

The accused was slapped with IPC section 377 (unnatural offence), Sections 7 (touch with sexual intent), 8 (sexual assault) and 9D (assault by someone responsible for the protection of the child) read with 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the PoCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and section 75 (punishment for cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act.