Jean-François Esponde, 71, a priest from the diocese of Bayonne, was sentenced to one year in prison with a suspended sentence, judged this Monday, July 1, 2024 by the Bayonne criminal court for sexual assault by a person in authority and for possession of child pornography images. According to this 19-year-old young man, who was absent during the hearing, there were two attacks in February in the cathedral of Bayonne, in this case touching of a sexual nature on the knees, thighs, buttocks and crotch. Priest denies all accusations
“I have spent my life helping others, and that has brought me before you.”
During the investigation, sexual images were found on his computer. An error, argued his lawyer: “if the man consulted sites, they were spam or to obtain information on stories and other confessions of prisoners when he was assigned to Bayonne prison“. In his last speech before the court adjourned to deliberate, he said: “I’ve spent my life helping others, it’s brought me here.”
Iban Etxezaharreta
Jérôme Bourrier, the public prosecutor of Bayonne, insisted during his requisitions “on the precise, detailed and reiterated story the day after the victim”He is requesting a one-year suspended prison sentence and a ban on church activity for five years.
The man was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence. He is also prohibited from carrying out any activity with minors for a period of 5 years. His name will be entered in the automated judicial file of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses. However, he was acquitted for possessing child pornography images and consulting pornographic sites. Around twenty people came to support the victim just before the hearing at the call of the Itaia collective.
Marge Berra-Zubieta
Around twenty people came to support the victim just before the hearing at the call of the Itaia collective.
