Update 2 | Church Commission, Ministry distance themselves from Godwin Scerri parole decision

The Church Commission for the Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults has distanced itself from a decision taken by the Parole Board granting defrocked priest Godwin Scerri parole.

Scerri today leaves prison after having been granted parole, against a number of conditions. One of the victims told MaltaToday that the parole was granted on a humanitarian grounds.

Contacted by MaltaToday, the secretary of the Parole Board explained that each case of parole is decided against a number of conditions. “The details of the conditions cannot be divulged due to data protection,” the board secretary said.

In a statement issued this morning, the Church Commission said decisions on prisoners being granted parole are taken by the Parole Board.

“The decision taken by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in October 2011, by means of which Br Godwin Scerri was removed from the clerical state, remains unchanged,” the Curia said in a statement.

In a statement, the Home Affairs Ministry said that the decisions taken by the parole board are completely autonomous. The multidisciplinary board, fully independent, is led by retired judge Francesco Deparsquale.

“The decisions are taken without any consultation with the government, as dictated by the law. The government has no access to the reports prepared by the board,” the Ministry said.

The Home Affairs Ministry added that, whilst the independence of the Parole Board is respected by the government, the decision “doesn’t reflect the government’s viewpoint” on this particular case.

The case goes back to August 2011, when two priests of the St Paul's Missionary Society, Godwin Scerri, 78, and Carmelo Pulis, 69, were defrocked and jailed for five and six years respectively after they had been convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys in their care at St Joseph’s Home in Santa Venera in the 1980s.

In delivering the judgement, the Court said that although Pulis and Scerri were considered to be 'father figures' for the boys at St. Joseph Home in Hamrun, "the fact remains however, that corruption of minors is a serious and ugly crime which could leave serious effects, be they physical or psychological on whoever experienced them."

L-Orizzont today reports that the conditions of the parole were not yet known and questions sent to the Parole Board remained unanswered.