France: Bernard Preynat's conviction for two decades of scout abuse made final by Cassation
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Material that narrows or disputes the record
Appellate history
2021-01-01
Appeal rejected; conviction final.
Record class
Core record
Evidence status
Convicted
Authority role
parish priest and scout chaplain
Organization
Archdiocese of Lyon, Scouts of Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon
Archive classification
This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.
The victims were boys in the scout troop where the priest served as chaplain — a pastoral office that gave him custody of children on camps and weekends for twenty years.
- Pastoral or clerical authority
- Institutional obedience or isolation
Evidence structure
Proceedings
2021-01-01 · conviction; cassation appeal rejected (final)
Tribunal correctionnel de Lyon; Cour de Cassation. Former priest Bernard Preynat was convicted in January 2020 and sentenced to five years for sexual assaults on dozens of Boy Scouts across two decades — trial testimony described one to five children abused per weekend or camp. The Court of Cassation rejected his appeal in January 2021, making the conviction final. He had been laicised by the Vatican in 2019. The related prosecution of Cardinal Barbarin for non-reporting ended in a final acquittal and forms no part of this record.
Documented coercion mechanisms
- chaplaincy authority over boys in his scout troop at camps and weekends
Cited record
Sources
- national newspaper court reporting final appellate disposition 'Affaire Preynat: la Cour de cassation rejette le pourvoi, condamnation définitive', LyonMag (2021).
Reports the final rejection of the cassation appeal.
Source provenance
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This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.
- Source and tier basis
- https://www.lyonmag.com/ Corpus classification: national-newspaper-court-reporting; evidentiary role: final-appellate-disposition. SHA-256 05c8f76a9cff5d68630a2e72db82dde2774eb7ec206a936f59015e22073627e6
- Retrieval
- 2026-07-20 · Preserved
- Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
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Related record
Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts
- 2018 · Harrisburg, PA, USA PA grand jury: 301 priests, 1,000+ child victims documented ('weaponized' faith)
- 2009 · Dublin, Ireland Ryan Commission: abuse 'endemic' in Catholic-run institutions (state inquiry)
- 2021 · Paris, France CIASE/Sauvé Report: est. 216,000 abused by French clergy since 1950
- 2019 · Vatican City McCarrick: ex-cardinal found guilty by Vatican canonical process, laicized
- 2010 · Oregon City, OR, USA Beagley faith-healing death: parents convicted (criminally negligent homicide)
- 2014 · Philadelphia, PA, USA Schaible: 3rd-degree murder, second child dead of untreated pneumonia
- 2001 · London, UK Victoria Climbié: murder convictions; possession belief; Laming Inquiry followed
- 2012 · London, UK Kristy Bamu: kindoki 'deliverance' murder convictions (30/25-yr minimums)