The Church’s child sex offender compensation body has awarded compensation to a man convicted of child sex abuse who had previously been sexually assaulted by a priest when he was a child.
Today aged 73, Jean-Yves Schmitt was sexually assaulted by a priest, Félix Hutin, between the ages of 12 and 15 in a high school in Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) in the 1960s before being convicted of pedophilia on several occasions thereafter. As the facts were time-barred in criminal law, the priest was convicted in civil court in July 2015 for the assaults committed on Mr Schmitt.
” The results “ violence inflicted by the chaplain “were serious and lasting (…) [et] have had a psychological impact both in [la] intimate life [de M. Schmitt] that in [ses] family relationships and [son] professional development »writes the Independent National Authority for Recognition and Reparation (Inirr) in a letter dated May 16, excerpts from which were originally published by Le Parisianand consulted by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The priest’s behavior and his influence on [le] body and [l’]spirit [de M. Schmitt] created a kind of addiction that has turned [ses] landmarks and [l’]left exposed to desires impossible to assume”the instance adds again. “These [l’]led to acts of violence, breaking prohibitions and heavy legal sanctions which transformed [sa] professional, personal and family life.
Six paedophiles out of 679 victims compensated
In view of this finding, the authority, which had been contacted by the person concerned, granted him the ” acknowledgement “ of what he has “undergone” And “a financial compensation of 60,000 euros”. Financial compensation does not “in no way absolves the person of responsibility for what they have subsequently committed”underlines the president of Inirr, Marie Derain de Vaucresson. “An aggressor remains responsible for what he has committed even if he has been a victim.”
Inirr takes “in consideration of all victims (…). This person was a victim and we cannot pretend that this is not the case.”she added. Contacted by AFP, Mr. Schmitt said he understood “the idea that we compensate” a pedophile can ” lead to confusion “. “But you have to understand that everything comes from the fact that I was a victim: if I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have been a predator.he added. CIt will not give me back my lost years or my grandchildren whom I have not seen since they were born.”
As of July 12, the INIRR – created after the shockwave of 2021 from the Sauvé report on pedocriminality in the Catholic Church – had been contacted by a total of 1,453 victims and 679 had obtained compensation, according to the second annual report presented in mid-March. The type of situation like Mr. Schmitt’s is “marginal”according to Marie Derain de Vaucresson, who mentions six cases out of the 679 decisions taken by the Inirr since its launch.