WARSAW, Poland - Prosecutors in Poland said Tuesday they have charged a Roman Catholic priest with molesting little girls and issued an arrest warrant in a separate case for another Catholic clergyman suspected of sexually abusing five teenage boys.
The parish priest in the village of Tylawa, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Warsaw, was charged in a case that was reopened following complaints from dozens of townspeople, said Andrzej Gadzala, chief prosecutor in the nearby Jaslo.
Statements from dozens of people resulted in charges being pressed against the 60-year-old Catholic father, identified only as Michal M, who allegedly abused the girls during religion classes. He has denied any wrongdoing.
The case was originally opened last year, but prosecutors dropped it when it appeared the priest had only affectionately taken the girls, all under the age of 10, in his lap and kissed them. It was reopened following complaints from residents.
Also Tuesday, prosecutors in the central city of Leczyca, some 140 kilometers (87 miles) southwest of Warsaw, issued an arrest warrant for a Catholic priest identified only as Wincenty P., who went missing in September.
The man is suspected of sexually abusing five boys under the age of 15 in 1998 and 1999, said Krzysztof Kopania, a spokesman for prosecutors.
If convicted of sexual abuse, both priests could face sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
In March, a Polish archbishop became the highest-ranking church figure to resign in a spate of sexual misconduct scandals that shook the Roman Catholic church in countries including the United States and Ireland.
Bishop Juliusz Paetz, Archbishop of Poznan stepped down following allegations, which he denied, that he had made homosexual advances on young clerics.