Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Vatican Recalls Priest at Washington Embassy Amid Child Porn Investigation

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/vatican-recalls-priest-washington-embassy-amid-child-porn-investigation-n801641

VATICAN CITY — A high-ranking priest working in the Vatican's embassy in Washington has been recalled after U.S. prosecutors asked for him to be charged there and face trial in a child pornography investigation, Vatican and U.S. officials said Friday.
The Vatican declined to identify the priest, but said he was currently in Vatican City and that Vatican prosecutors had launched their own probe.
If the accusations pan out, the case would be a major embarrassment for the Vatican and Pope Francis, who has pledged "zero tolerance" for sexual abuse.

The State Department said it had asked the Vatican to lift the official's diplomatic immunity on Aug. 21. It said that request was denied three days later. For the State Department to make such a request, its lawyers would have needed to be convinced that there was reasonable cause for criminal prosecution.

The circumstances that prompted prosecutors to make the request, however, weren't clear. The Justice Department, which would have brought any charges, did not immediately comment.
In a statement, the Vatican said the U.S. State Department had notified the Vatican on Aug. 21 of a "possible violation of laws relating to child pornography images" by one of its diplomats in Washington.