Polish priest charged with pedophilia found dead

WARSAW, Poland — A charred body was found at a cemetery in eastern Poland and is believed to be that of a priest suspected of pedophilia in Germany and in Poland, a prosecutor said Friday.

Deputy chief prosecutor in Zamosc, Miroslaw Buczek, said that authorities are 99 percent sure the body is that of the priest, identified only as Boguslaw P. Earlier this week prosecutors charged him with sexually abusing two teenage boys 10 years ago in his eastern Polish parish of Turka. The priest denied the charges, which could have brought a 12-year prison term. A court had ordered him to stay in his village and regularly report to the local police station.

The priest was also on trial in another Polish town, Krasnystaw, on charges of molesting an altar boy in Germany, where he worked in 2004 and 2005.

The body was found Friday morning by the grave of his parents in the village of Lopiennik Nadrzeczny along with a knife and a broken bottle that had contained flammable liquid. DNA tests are being made to confirm the body’s identity.