Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Paranaguá, Paraná, Brazil · 2025

Brazil: Indian-born parish priest convicted of sexually abusing a parishioner during a spiritual counseling session

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

parish priest, Paróquia de Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes, Ilha dos Valadares, Paranaguá, Diocese of Paranaguá

Organization

Paróquia de Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes, Diocese of Paranaguá

Spiritual nexus

The victim sought him out specifically in his capacity as priest, for spiritual counseling during a mental-health crisis; the court's own sentencing language identifies the abuse of his 'position of trust and religious authority' as the operative mechanism.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. Date in cited record · trial conviction, prosecution appealing for a longer sentence

    Brazil — comarca of Paranaguá, Paraná (court not further specified in sources reviewed). Fr. Binu Joseph Chollackal, an Indian-born priest and former pastor of the parish, was convicted of importunação sexual (sexual harassment/imposition) against a 20-year-old parishioner who had come to the church on 11 February 2022 with her parents seeking spiritual help for depression. He was sentenced to 2 years and 11 months in semi-open regime, plus R$1,500 in damages. The sentencing court found he 'took advantage of his position of trust and religious authority to commit the abuse.' The case became public in October 2025 and additional complainants came forward to the Ministério Público do Paraná (MPPR) afterward. The MPPR has appealed for a harsher sentence; the defense contests the conviction.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • position of pastoral trust and religious authority used during a one-on-one spiritual counseling session
  • instructing those present to close their eyes during a prayer, using the moment to touch the victim

Primary record

Sources

press press report JB Litoral: 'Padre Binu é condenado a quase 3 anos por importunação sexual em Paranaguá; entenda a sentença.'

Detailed account of the conviction, sentence, sentencing court's reasoning, and subsequent complainants.

press press report ACI Digital (Catholic press): confirms the priest's Indian origin, Diocese of Paranaguá affiliation, and the conviction.

Diocesan/Catholic-press corroboration of the conviction and the priest's parish role.

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