František Merta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

František Merta was a central figure in a Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in the Czech Republic. Father Frantisek Merta and Olomouc Bishop Jan Graubner were charged after allegations were made by a theology student, Vaclav Novak, that Merta had sexually abused altar boys since 1995. In 2001, Merta was found guilty of sexually abusing more than 20 boys and given a suspended sentence of two years. When he was a priest in Moravia, Archbishop Jan Graubner failed to report him. Instead, Graubner moved him from location to location whenever problems appeared.

A book about Merta's child sexual abuse cases, Krici Hlasem Zrady (They Are Shouting the Voice of Betrayal), was published in March 2001 by Vaclav Novak. Novak, helped uncover the pedophile scandal in 2000. Novak persuaded a group of victims to come forward with their allegations against Merta.

[edit] References

Mindy Kay Bricker, "Whistleblower wants apology from church: Ex-seminarian files lawsuit, furious about archbishop's denial of pedophile scandals", The Prague Post, April 2, 2003. Online copy