Church knew of arrested pastor's pedophilia feelings before Cambodia abuse
Dutch pastor Nico S. was arrested in Cambodia on Tuesday for paying underage boys to let him take nude photos of them. The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands announced at a press conference previous knowledge of the suspect's sexual desire for young boys, something the church said S. discussed with the former bishop during his priesthood training 18 years ago.
The organization says it failed its job of monitoring the pastor if the allegations in Cambodia are true. Previously, he was assigned to work with children at sanctioned youth camps, but the church said a very close watch was kept on S. at all times he had contact with kids. The church immediately suspended S. after his arrest, according to broadcaster RTL.
Cambodian authorities accuse S. of taking nude photographs of children there, and not physically touching them. The church, which broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church in the 18th century, said it is not aware of physical contact between S. and the children involved.
Most recently S. worked as airport pastor at Schiphol and was involved in assisting relatives of MH17 victims.
