Justice Dossier of abuse cases in Valais shelved

The Valais public prosecutor's office has shelved a dossier of abuse cases involving the Catholic Church. Following preliminary proceedings, it came to the conclusion that all the reported acts were time-barred or that no criminal charges had been filed in time.

It therefore issued a discontinuation order, the public prosecutor's office announced on Thursday. It had initiated the preliminary proceedings in September 2023 and instructed the cantonal police to investigate possible crimes committed by clergy in Valais.

The preliminary proceedings were prompted by a report on a pilot study into the history of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland since the mid-20th century. The researchers counted over 1000 cases of sexual abuse in Switzerland during this period. The aim of the investigations in Valais was to find out whether there are any possible crimes that are not time-barred or have already been dealt with.

SDA