Mangaluru child sexual assault: Church hierarchy knew of allegations weeks before FIR

A Catholic priest in Mangaluru, Karnataka, was arrested on Saturday, October 17, for allegedly sexually abusing minor children. Although the arrest comes two days after a First Information Report was registered against the priest, officials of the Mangalore Diocese, including the Bishop, were aware of the allegations for almost two months.

Father Cyprian Pinto of St Vincent Ferrer Church in Valencia was arrested by the Mangaluru South police from the residence of his relative, Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy said. 

Father Cyprian faces a case registered under Sections 8 (sexual assault) and 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and Section 75(2) (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

A community member and an activist told TNM that the matter was brought to the attention of Bishop Peter Paul Saladanha on August 17.

Section 19 of the POCSO Act makes it mandatory that any person with knowledge of a sexual offence against a child must bring it to the notice of the authorities. 

The Public Relations Office of the Mangalore Diocese declined to comment on specific allegations, saying that the matter was being investigated by the police. 

Meeting with Bishop

Satish (name changed), a resident of the neighbouring Udupi district, who has direct knowledge of the events surrounding the alleged abuse, told TNM that five children and their parents met the Bishop on August 17. 

“These are city boys. They’re much more aware of things. They talked to each other and figured out that they’ve all been abused. They discussed it with the Assistant Parish priest, who’s a young man close in age to the boys. It was this priest who raised the issue with another parish member, who in turn raised the issue in the church, forcing the Vice President to take action. There are a couple of more boys who were abused, but only five boys and their parents eventually came forward to meet the Bishop,” Satish said.  

Satish said that the visit was arranged by the Vice President of Vincent Ferrer Church Ronald Rodrigues. 

Asked about this, Ronald Rodrigues declined to comment. “Since a case has been filed, I can’t say anything. If I say anything it will be prejudice (to the case). We can’t confirm anything since it is in the court.”

Satish said that each of the five children wrote letters to the Bishop detailing the alleged abuse, but only one got leaked. TNM has a copy of the leaked letter, which is undated. 

The 14-year-old boy who wrote the complaint talks about how he was abused and also mentions that he witnessed Father Cyprian molest another boy. 

The complaint letter to the Bishop starts with the arrival of Father Cyprian to the Vincent Ferrer parish on May 26 this year. The child says that the father initially behaved in a friendly manner in public. As time passed, Father Cyprian allegedly began molesting him. The letter mentions at least three occasions in which he was allegedly sexually assaulted. 

The boy ended his letter saying: “This is for your kind information. This childrens’ sexual harassment should be stopped”. 

Church inquiry

Stanly KV, activist and co-founder of the Mysuru-based Odanadi Seva Samsthe, alleged that on September 9, a few days after the parents met the Bishop, judicial vicar Naveen Father Cyprian  and another priest Melwyn Peres held an “inquiry” by summoning the parents. 

The judicial vicar heads the Diocesan Ecclesiastical Tribunal, a body which functions as a court. The judicial vicar assists the bishop in his judicial role in the diocese and handling cases that are subject to the Canon Law of the Catholic Church. The judicial vicar, along with the tribunal staff, judges these cases, presiding over a panel of judges. Melwyn Peres is not a member of the Tribunal. 

Satish said that the Bishop had promised the parents that an inquiry would be done after the Monthi festival, a harvest festival celebrated by Catholics in coastal Karnataka. 

“He delivered on that. For about two weeks, the children and their parents were summoned, individually or in groups of twos and threes, for the inquiry. Father Cyprian was also summoned. Last we heard, a report was sent to the Vatican,” Satish said. 

Stanly meanwhile said that the diocese had sent Father Cyprian on administrative leave. 

TNM emailed questions regarding the alleged meeting with the Bishop, the inquiry by the judicial vicar and on whether any action had been taken against Father Cyprian, to the Bishop’s office. 

Public Relations Officer of the church, Ronald Castellino said, “As the matter is now under the purview of the law enforcement authorities, and the accused person has surrendered before the authorities, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the specific allegations. Given the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter, it is important to allow the legal process to proceed without speculation or prejudice to the investigation or to any of the parties involved. We trust that the law will take its course and that justice will be served, with due consideration for the welfare, dignity, and privacy of all concerned.”

Government inquiry

The Karnataka Directorate of Child Protection in Bengaluru wrote to the Dakshina Kannada District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) on August 31, directing an inquiry into allegations against Father Cyprian Pinto. 

An official from the DCPU who requested anonymity, said that after receiving the letter from the Directorate of Child Protection in Bengaluru, the DCPU wrote to the Mangalore South police station on September 2 requesting an investigation. 

“The letter we received from the Directorate did not name any victims. Neither did the email that was attached to the letter. We went to the church and spoke to people there, but we were abused instead. We left our numbers with people, asking them to contact us, but had no idea who the victims were, not even whether they were boys or girls.”

The official also said that on September 22, the DCPU itself received an email from someone who had forwarded a conversation between two people with the numbers masked. 

“It was a discussion of the alleged abuse, but this too did not name any victims whom we could contact. Given this was a high profile case and that people might be scared to come forward, we wrote back, saying that people could reach out to us through our landline and we gave the landline number as well. But we didn’t hear back after that.”

She said that based on the DCPU’s letter, the Mangalore South police did conduct an inquiry and spoke to the three priests at the Vincent Ferrer Church, including Father Cyprian Father Cyprian. The police submitted the inquiry report, including the three priests’ statements, to the DCPU on September 15, she said.  

Stanly also demanded that there must be a wider probe. “The  police must investigate whether there are more victims,” Stanly said. 

Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy told The News Minute that the police would investigate whether there had been a delay in reporting the complaint. He also pointed out that the FIR mentions that the complaint to the police was made on the Bishop’s advice.