Charged Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Międzybrodzie Bialskie, Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec, Poland · 2026

Poland: state pedophilia commission enters priest Jan Wodniak in the public sex-offender registry a second time

Request a correction or reply

Record class

Context only

Evidence status

Official finding

Authority role

See cited record

Organization

No organization assigned

Archive classification

This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.

As parish priest, Wodniak held direct clerical authority over an altar boy who served under him from age 12; institutional silence after the victim's report to his bishop is itself part of the record and let the pattern continue for decades under the same clerical office.

Pastoral or clerical authority
Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2026-01-01 · Public sex-offender registry entry (second entry, distinct abuse period)

State Commission for Combating Sexual Abuse of Minors, Poland. Entered into public Registry of Sex Offenders; 30-day appeal window open

Cited record

Sources

TVN24 (2026) 'Międzybrodzie. Ksiądz Wodniak drugi raz wpisany do rejestru pedofilii. "Nazwano po imieniu to, co się stało"'. Available at: tvn24.pl (Accessed 2026-07-19). English gloss: Poland's State Commission for Combating Sexual Abuse of Minors entered former parish priest Jan Wodniak of Międzybrodzie Bialskie (Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec) into the public Registry of Sex Offenders for a second time, this time covering 2002-2005 acts; the first entry covered March 1984-February 1987, when altar boy Janusz Szymik was first abused at age 12. Szymik had reported the abuse to Bishop Tadeusz Rakoczy in the 1990s without institutional response, allowing Wodniak to continue in ministry for decades.: TVN24 (2026) 'Międzybrodzie. Ksiądz Wodniak drugi raz wpisany do rejestru pedofilii. "Nazwano po imieniu to, co się stało"'. Available at: tvn24.pl (Accessed 2026-07-19). English gloss: Poland's State Commission for Combating Sexual Abuse of Minors entered former parish priest Jan Wodniak of Międzybrodzie Bialskie (Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec) into the public Registry of Sex Offenders for a second time, this time covering 2002-2005 acts; the first entry covered March 1984-February 1987, when altar boy Janusz Szymik was first abused at age 12. Szymik had reported the abuse to Bishop Tadeusz Rakoczy in the 1990s without institutional response, allowing Wodniak to continue in ministry for decades.
Deon.pl (2026) 'Ksiądz trafi do rejestru pedofilów? Państwowa Komisja ds. Pedofilii miała wydać postanowienie'. Available at: deon.pl (Accessed 2026-07-19).: Deon.pl (2026) 'Ksiądz trafi do rejestru pedofilów? Państwowa Komisja ds. Pedofilii miała wydać postanowienie'. Available at: deon.pl (Accessed 2026-07-19).

Source provenance

Source access and integrity log

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://tvn24.pl/katowice/miedzybrodzie-ksiadz-wodniak-drugi-raz-wpisany-do-rejestru-pedofilii-nazwano-po-imieniu-to-co-sie-stalo-st9074976 Legacy citation preserved without a normalized source tier or evidentiary-role code. SHA-256 3887a00b045581d7ada7e22a967216a172884a665308d943e2216f244f3e4593
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
Source and tier basis: https://deon.pl/wiadomosci/ksiadz-trafi-do-rejestru-pedofilow-panstwowa-komisja-ds-pedofilii-miala-wydac-postanowienie,3371934 Legacy citation preserved without a normalized source tier or evidentiary-role code. SHA-256 aaa95958aa2fe3c04acf622a24e6ae894cf9b080dbc689a1e1a9c77272908eab
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger

Named in this record? Request a correction, report a changed disposition, or submit a response.

Related record

Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts

Browse all 796 Christian institutions & contexts records

← Explore all cases