Poland church asks court to verify if abuse victim is gay

By VANESSA GERA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Catholic church in Poland has asked a court to determine whether a Polish man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest is gay and whether that sexual contact may have been pleasurable for him. The victim, Janusz Szymik, was a 12-year-old altar boy when the abuse began in the 1980s. Szymik sued the diocese of Bielsko-Zywiec, in southern Poland, in a civil court last year. The priest, who has been identified only as Rev. Jan W., admitted to the abuse. Szymik is now seeking 3 million zlotys ($760,000) in compensation from the diocese.