Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Święcany and Boguchwała, Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland · 2026

Poland: Catholic vicar convicted of sexually abusing five teenage boys, including altar servers, across two parishes

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Fr Dominik R. (surname withheld per Polish court-reporting convention), Roman Catholic vicar (wikariusz) of the parishes of Święcany and Boguchwała, Diocese of Rzeszów

Organization

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rzeszów

Spiritual nexus

The victims were altar servers and catechism participants under Fr Dominik R.'s direct pastoral charge in his own parishes; the settings of abuse — the catechetical room, a church-organized trip, and altar-server outings — were all made possible specifically by his clerical office over these children.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority
  • Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2026-05-22 · conviction, non-final at time of reporting

    Sąd Okręgowy w Rzeszowie (Regional Court in Rzeszów), Poland. On 22 May 2026 the Regional Court in Rzeszów convicted Fr Dominik R. of six sexual offenses against boys and sentenced him to 5 years' imprisonment, to be served in a therapeutic unit given a diagnosed sexual-preference disorder. He harmed five teenage boys, two of them under 15, across the parishes of Święcany and Boguchwała, with offenses occurring in the catechetical room, during an organized school trip abroad, and during pool outings for altar servers. The court additionally imposed a lifetime ban on working with children or minors, a prohibition on approaching places where children congregate, and a 10-year no-contact order covering the victims. The Diocesan Curia of Rzeszów removed him from his vicar posting and suspended him from all pastoral functions. The sentence was reported as non-final (nieprawomocny); parents of one victim were reported pursuing an appeal, apparently seeking a harsher sentence.

Appellate history

  1. 2026

    Not yet resolved as of the sources consulted.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • his standing as parish vicar and the trust placed in him by families of altar servers and catechism participants
  • use of parish settings — including the rectory/parish house — and a school trip abroad and swimming-pool outings organized for altar servers as access points

Primary record

Sources

regional newspaper court reporting institutional statement Polskie Radio Rzeszów, 'Ks. Dominik R., wikariusz parafii w Święcanach został odwołany' (in Polish).

Diocesan/regional radio report confirming his removal from the Święcany vicar post.

national newspaper court reporting court reporting Super Express (Rzeszów edition), 'Ksiądz Dominik skazany. Był oskarżony o pedofilię. Skrzywdził kilku chłopców' (in Polish).

National tabloid court report on the conviction, sentence and therapeutic-unit placement.

national newspaper court reporting court reporting Wprost, 'Ksiądz stanął przed sądem. Miał skrzywdzić pięciu chłopców' (in Polish).

National newsweekly's account of the trial confirming five victims and the school-trip/pool-outing access points.

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