Michal R. (name changed) folded his hands on top of each other, lowered his head and closed his eyes. One almost wants to think of a penitent who sincerely regrets what he was accused of: Prosecutor Susanne Heinrich explains how the 58-year-old is said to have exploited the trust of two boys whose fathers had just died as a pastor and sexually abused them on multiple occasions. Once the pastor is said to have even taken the young people to Munich and filled them with beer at the Oktoberfest, only to later attack the almost unconscious young men in the hotel room. R. now wants to “assume responsibility” before the Munich I Regional Court, as he says.
The crimes that the member of the Catholic order “German Province of the Paulines” is accused of, and which he admitted at the start of the trial, occurred more than 20 years ago. It can be assumed that the two young men had suppressed what had happened for a long time – until one of them remembered it again, struggled with himself for years and finally filed a police report.
At the time of the crime, around 2004 to 2005, Michal R. was sent as a pastor to a small community in Breisgau near Freiburg. He had set up a room in the attic of the parish hall where he met with young men from his parish association. In addition, the priest provided alcohol, people watched videos, celebrated, smoked – with the blinds drawn. At the meetings that took place several times a week, the defendant is said to have “physically approached the drunk or intoxicated young people,” according to the indictment.
Among these young people between the ages of 14 and 17 were Robert L. and Peter V. (names changed), who were later harmed. Robert L.’s father had just died when the pastor specifically sought contact with L. and asked whether he would like to become an altar boy in his church. He invited the 14-year-old into the attic room, gave him expensive gifts such as a computer or snowboard equipment and, according to the public prosecutor’s office, presented himself as a substitute father. “You claimed that you had a relationship with the victim,” an expert told the defendant during the trial. He is silent about this.
Peter V had also lost his father. And Michal R. showed up at the Protestant funeral service uninvited. He invited the adolescent to the drinking sessions in the attic room. When the young people were alone with the priest and drunk, he is said to have sexually assaulted them, taken naked photos and groped them. According to the prosecution, he explained to one that sexual contact between men was part of growing up.
In 2005, the priest took the two young people to the Oktoberfest: Michal R. paid for the trip, food, beer – and a hotel room. In the end, the indictment states, the two young people were so drunk “that they were no longer able to form their own will.” In the hotel room, the priest is said to have abused the almost unconscious young people, one of whom vomited several times. The victims later said they felt “empty and guilty.”
After the report was made in 2023, the police searched Michal R.’s apartment and found eight images of youth pornography on his smartphone. “They come from my actions,” R. admits in court. Defense attorney Thomas Novak explains that his client wrote letters of apology and deeply regrets his actions. R. also assures that something like this will never happen again. “My actions were wrong and morally unacceptable.” At that time he slipped into alcohol addiction, “I was always invited, I lost control of myself”.
He was thrown out of a festival in his community because he was so drunk. He started drinking alcohol at lunchtime and held church services in this state until a woman approached him. He then asked for a transfer; he wanted to draw a line in the sand. There are no longer any addictive substances in the new monastery in Bavaria “because a fellow brother was addicted to drugs”.
But he still made contact with the young people in Breisgau from there, the public prosecutor accuses him. Michal R. looks again at his folded hands. And is silent. A verdict is expected in early April.
