In a letter, young parishioners accuse a pastor from the Ostalb deanery of sexual abuse. The public prosecutor's office has now started an investigation into the case.

Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - In the case of allegations of abuse against a pastor from the Ostalb deanery, the public prosecutor's office has started investigations. A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Ellwangen announced that they were investigating the initial suspicion of sexual harassment to the detriment of two altar boys aged 16 and 21. The diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart announced the allegations against the Catholic pastor in mid-October. According to the information, the leading pastor of a pastoral unit is accused of unwanted long hugs, touching and unwanted contact via messenger services. According to the diocese, there was already a first indication of an unwanted hug at the beginning of July. According to the information, the pastor then received instructions on how to behave.

The allegations were disclosed by altar boys and girls from the three parishes of the pastoral care unit. They sent a letter to the head of pastoral staff in the diocese. With reference to the protection of privacy and the ongoing criminal and canonical investigations, the diocese did not provide any further information about the pastor - not even whether he had commented on the allegations.

The accused may therefore continue to take on no priestly and pastoral services and no longer celebrate church services. According to the public prosecutor's office, the man has not yet appeared for similar crimes. The Ostalb deanery comprises 25 pastoral care units in the Ostalb district.