Predator in Robes: The Diocese of Iași and the Vatican Buried a Sexual Assault Committed by a Catholic Priest Against a Minor in Bacău, Failing to Alert Prosecutors

Emilia Şercan

English Section

30/01/2026

A Roman Catholic priest sexually abused a 13-year-old minor in the Bacău county parish where he served. Although the Bishop of Iași was aware of the abuse, forwarded the case to the Vatican, and applied canonical sanctions, he failed to notify the authorities. The state only intervened later, eventually securing a final prison conviction against the priest.

READ THE ROMANIAN VERSION HERE.

It took nearly three years for the priest from Bacău to be held criminally liable, even though in cases of child sexual abuse, the law leaves no room for interpretation: these are considered serious crimes that must be reported to authorities and criminally investigated.

According to his own statements and documents in the criminal file, Bishop Iosif Păuleț did not notify the Prosecutor’s Office, deeming the Church’s internal mechanisms sufficient to handle the case.

In a response sent yesterday to PressOne, the spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași, Father Adrian Blăjuță, claimed that "immediately upon learning of the facts, contact was maintained with the competent state authorities."

However, the "contact" mentioned actually refers to the questioning of Bishop Păuleț, which took place four days after the priest had already been detained and subsequently arrested.

The priest has been behind bars since July 2024 and is currently incarcerated in Vaslui Penitentiary. Tomorrow, the Vaslui District Court is scheduled to rule on his request for conditional release.

December 2021. Cleja

Cecilia**, a woman from the rural community of Cleja, Bacău County, learns that between her minor daughter and priest Augustin Benchea—the parish priest of the local "Saint Mark" Roman Catholic Church—there is a bond that crosses the boundaries of a pastoral relationship.

The information is provided to her by the housekeeper who looked after the priest.

Priest Benchea had been transferred to the Cleja parish a little over a year prior, starting on September 1, 2020, after having served for 16 years in the village of Pustiana, Pârjol commune, Bacău County.

Cecilia speaks with her daughter, now an 8th-grade student, who reveals that she was touched by the priest in an inappropriate manner.

The incidents had taken place during the summer of that year, between June and September 2021, when the minor was still 13 years old and a 7th-grade student. At the time, the girl attended church frequently, as she was preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The family attempts to manage the situation as best they can.

Cecilia immediately addresses a superior of the priest, requesting that Augustin Benchea be transferred to another parish, while her daughter begins psychological therapy.

Deeply affected and fearful that the events might become known within the community, the family decides at that moment not to notify the Police or the Prosecutor’s Office.

According to documents in the criminal investigation file, the superior to whom the acts were reported—a parish priest and Dean of a church in Bacău—did not report Priest Benchea’s situation to the Diocese until May 2022.

May 10, 2022. Iași

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Iași, Iosif Păuleț, is informed that priest Augustin Benchea, the parish priest of "Saint Mark" Church in Cleja commune, Bacău County, is involved in "an alleged relationship" with a minor middle school student from Cleja.

The person notifying Bishop Păuleț about the abuse committed against a minor is the parish priest of a church in Bacău, with whom Cecilia had spoken in December 2021. Five months pass from that conversation until the Diocese is notified.

Bishop Păuleț issues a decree opening an internal investigation targeting Priest Benchea.

For the preliminary investigation of the Benchea case, Bishop Păuleț appoints Monica Butacu—a member of the Commission for the analysis of potential abuse of minors by clergy, operating at the Diocesan level. Butacu, a Church employee, managed the "Saint Teresa of Calcutta" Community Assistance Center of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași.

The decree states that Monica Butacu is granted "the same powers held by an instructing judge in a trial."

However, the Catholic Church’s internal inquiries are not conducted according to the rigors of a criminal investigation; their purpose is to establish disciplinary misconduct by priests and apply religious sanctions.

Another person authorized to handle this case is Priest Nicu-Daniel Butacu, Vice-Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași, who is also a member of the same Commission for the analysis of potential abuse of minors by clergy.

Beyond opening an internal investigation, Bishop Păuleț does not notify the state investigative bodies, even though the law allows any person who learns of such an act to file a report with the Prosecutor’s Office, without the need for a formal complaint from the victim.

According to criminal legislation, sexual crimes committed against minors are prosecuted ex officio, meaning that state authorities must be notified immediately when there are indications of their commission.

The Bishop, however, chooses to manage the case exclusively through the Church’s internal mechanisms.

September 9, 2022. Vatican

Archbishop John J. Kennedy, Secretary for the Disciplinary Section of the Catholic Church—responsible for handling serious canonical crimes, particularly cases of sexual abuse committed by clerics—sends a letter to the Bishop of Iași, Iosif Păuleț.

This letter is a response to the disciplinary investigation file concerning priest Augustin Benchea from Cleja, which the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași had forwarded to the Vatican.

Monsignor Kennedy informs Bishop Păuleț that, "considering the substantiated nature of the allegations" made against him, a "penal precept" will be applied to priest Benchea.

In the Roman Catholic universe, a penal precept is a disciplinary measure, issued in the form of an order by a competent ecclesiastical authority, through which sanctions are imposed on an individual.

Thus, the punishment established at the Vatican for priest Benchea from Cleja was as follows:

In the document, Monsignor Kennedy states that the punishment was decided based on the files received from the Diocese of Iași and requests that Augustin Benchea be informed in writing and sign the notification as proof that he has taken note of the sanctions applied to him.

The Disciplinary Section of the Catholic Church, led by Archbishop Kennedy, was established by Pope Francis in 2017 following countless scandals regarding sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests against minors.

October 10, 2022. Iași

Bishop Iosif Păuleț communicates to priest Augustin Benchea the punishment decided at the Vatican for the abuse of a minor, in the form of a penal precept.

In the document, the Bishop mentions that "I am obliged to be concerned for all the faithful entrusted to my care" and "to request the observance of all ecclesiastical laws to avoid situations of scandal."

He notifies priest Benchea both of the effective punishment established at the Vatican and that this measure was taken "following the completion of the preliminary investigation" and "the finding of the violation of the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue with a minor on the part of Your Reverence."

The Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue refers to not committing "impure acts," referring to interactions of a sexual nature. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains at length what constitutes a violation of the Sixth Commandment.

At the end of the document addressed to priest Benchea, Bishop Păuleț expresses his willingness "to be by your side even in these more difficult moments" and mentions that the precept enters into force on the date of issuance, namely October 10, 2022.

One of the sanctions dictated in September 2022 by the Vatican was for Benchea to no longer serve in Cleja.

He had already left the church and the commune in July 2022 and could not have done so without the acceptance of the Diocese of Iași.

Moreover, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași had appointed another parish priest in Cleja—Felix Marius Roca—starting September 1, meaning nine days before receiving Monsignor Kennedy’s letter.

January 22, 2026. Cleja

Cleja is a commune comprising three sprawling villages, with over 5,000 inhabitants, located 20 minutes from Bacău. The entire community is Catholic, as stated by Deputy Mayor Marinel Farcaș.

The "Saint Mark" Cleja 2 Church, where Augustin Benchea served, is closed. The parish house is also locked up. A man walking up the street where the church is located clarifies that if the car isn't in front of the parish house or in the yard, then priest Felix Marius Roca, the current parish priest of Cleja 2, is nowhere to be found. "He must have gone to the city, as he spends quite a lot of time there," the man says.

The village residents struggle to remember priest Augustin Benchea.

After asking a few passersby, frozen by the piercing cold, what they know about their former parish priest, a woman pieces together a few memories of "Father Augustin."

"Was his name Benchea? We knew him as Father Augustin. From what I heard, he had some serious trouble at our church. Someone reported him for something, but we don't know anything about him anymore. Simply put, one Sunday he held Mass, and the next week he didn't show up," says the woman met on the frozen lanes at the entrance to the commune.

When asked if his absence from church was due to his arrest, the woman says she is unaware that the priest was arrested.

"He cried at Mass, so clearly something happened there, but nobody knows," she adds, mentioning that a young lady filed a complaint against him for assaulting her, but "it is not known if it's true."

Locals no longer remember when or under what circumstances he actually left the parish.

"He was moved from Cleja," says another local, but no one has any information about where the priest was transferred before being detained by prosecutors.

February 24, 2023. Bacău

Police officers from the Criminal Investigation Service within the Bacău County Police Inspectorate initiate an investigation ex officio regarding the fact that priest Augustin Benchea from Cleja, "taking advantage of his position of trust and authority within the community," sexually assaulted a minor who was in the period of preparation for receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.

This marks the beginning of the investigation that eventually leads to priest Augustin Benchea’s final conviction and prison sentence.

Who exactly notified the police that a minor from the commune of Cleja had been sexually assaulted by the parish priest remains unclear. What is certain is that the authorities were not alerted by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași.

Nine months passed from the moment the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași learned of this sexual abuse until the state authorities actually began their investigation.

One of the first persons questioned in the case, after the minor victim and her mother, is the woman who looked after priest Benchea. This took place in March 2023.

The housekeeper is the one who notices the priest's changed behavior and understands that something inappropriate is happening with one of the girls attending the church. She is the woman who took care of the priest and lived in the parish house.

This is the woman who alerted Cecilia, the minor's mother, in December 2021.

Following the questioning of the girl and other witnesses, as well as a series of forensic examinations and digital searches, the case prosecutor establishes the legal classification of the crime as sexual assault in a continuing form.

The evidence indicates that the assaults against the minor occurred between June and September 2021, when she had not yet turned 14.

July 24, 2023. Bacău

Investigators summon priest Augustin Benchea and inform him of his status as a suspect, but he refuses to make a statement.

The prosecutor orders his detention for 24 hours.

The next day, on July 25, Benchea’s legal status is changed from suspect to defendant.

Once again, he refuses to make a statement, and the case prosecutor proposes his arrest for 30 days, a measure admitted by a Judge of Rights and Liberties from the Bacău Tribunal.

July 28, 2023. Bacău

Bishop Iosif Păuleț is summoned by phone and urgently travels from Iași to Bacău, where he is questioned at the Bacău County Police Inspectorate.

In the statement given to investigators, he asserts that he learned in May 2022 that priest Augustin Benchea "has problems with a young woman" involved in church activities dedicated to youth.

In the following sentence of the statement, these "problems" are presented as "relationships forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church."

The wording is euphemistic. In this case, it is not a matter of violating the celibacy imposed by the church, but the fact that the respective "relationships" took place with a minor under 14 years of age, a fact that constitutes a criminal offense.

In the same statement, Bishop Iosif Păuleț claims that he discussed the matter with priest Augustin Benchea, who did not deny the acts but attempted to downplay their gravity.

The Bishop described to the investigators the procedure followed within the Diocese and, subsequently, at the Vatican, as well as how the canonical punishment of the priest was reached.

The Bishop also stated that he personally identified a center for psychological and spiritual courses in Rome, courses recommended to Benchea by the Vatican itself.

Priest Benchea thus went to Rome for several months, information also provided to investigators by his former housekeeper.

At the end of the statement given to investigators, Bishop Păuleț absolves himself of any responsibility regarding notifying criminal investigation bodies, even though the law mandates authority intervention in cases of child abuse.

"Personally, I did not suggest to anyone that what happened should not be reported to judicial bodies," he points out.

Instead, he transfers the entire responsibility to the victim's family.

The Bishop claims he did his duty by conducting an internal investigation and that "I took the measures ordered by the Vatican, leaving it to the family members [...] to proceed as they see fit."

The spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași, priest Adrian Blăjuță, claims in a response sent yesterday to PressOne that, "immediately upon learning of the facts, contact was maintained with the competent state authorities and the Holy See, following canonical norms and established procedures, including those provided in the motu proprio Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela and motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi documents."

He further added that, "since the Diocese of Iași was not a party to the trial, and this trial was not public, we cannot make additional comments regarding the details of the case."

***

In the absence of a report to criminal authorities, the management of the sexual abuse was left within the Church, where the "resolution" was limited to administrative measures.

After returning from Rome, priest Augustin Benchea was not permanently removed from the pastoral circuit but was moved to another community, in Roman, at the "Immaculate Heart of Mary" Parish.

The problem was not solved, merely moved.

This practice—in which Catholic priests accused of abuse are moved from one parish to another instead of their deeds being reported to the justice system—has been documented in dozens of international journalistic investigations.

The method became emblematic following investigations by The Boston Globe in 2002, which revealed that for decades, shuffling priests from one parish to another was used to bury potential public scandals and to protect the Church, not the victims.

In the Benchea case, documents show the same pattern: the failure to file a criminal report was followed by the priest's transfer to another city and a ban on serving as a parish priest for three years.

October 2, 2023. Bacău

The Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bacău District Court indicts Augustin Benchea, who remains in pre-trial detention, for the crime of sexual assault in a continuing form against a minor.

Until December 27, 2023, judges maintained the measure of pre-trial detention against him, which was then replaced at that time with house arrest.

March 23, 2024. Bacău

The first-instance conviction of Augustin Benchea is pronounced by the Bacău District Court.

The reasoning is of maximum severity.

The judge notes that the gravity of the act is amplified by the position of authority Augustin Benchea held in the community: the victim was a minor and a member of the church choir where he served as parish priest.

The court argues that this "reveals the degree of moral degradation in which he finds himself, being evidently a person devoid of any scruples or moral landmarks, who places the satisfaction of his deviant sexual behavior above the normal physical and mental development of a child."

In addition to the sentence of four years in prison, the court orders priest Augustin Benchea to pay his victim 10,000 euros in moral damages and 1,560 RON in material damages, as well as legal fees amounting to 3,000 RON.

He was also required to pay another 4,000 RON to the state as judicial expenses.

At the same time, the judges ordered Augustin Benchea’s registration in the National Register of Sex Offenders, a mandatory measure in cases of sexual crimes committed against minors.

July 30, 2024. Bacău

Augustin Benchea appealed the sentence received from the Bacău District Court, but the Bacău Court of Appeal upholds the first court’s decision in its entirety and issues a final conviction of 4 years in prison.

Following the final sentencing, Augustin Benchea was incarcerated in Vaslui Penitentiary.

Last week, on January 22, the Vaslui District Court heard a first request for conditional release filed by him and postponed the pronouncement of the sentence for tomorrow, January 27.

January 25, 2026. Iași

In a statement requested by PressOne, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași conveys through spokesperson Adrian Blăjuță, among other things, that "it was not a party to the criminal trial" of priest Augustin Benchea, that the trial itself was not public, and consequently, that it cannot make "additional comments regarding details of the case."

The religious institution "expresses its pain and regret for the suffering and scandal" caused by the case of priest Augustin Benchea, whose deed, the Diocese notes, is "entirely reprehensible."

However, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași does not explain how such a case was possible within the church system.

Instead, it states that at the diocesan level "there is a constant concern for the prevention of such situations," materialized including through "training courses and programs focused on the protection of minors and vulnerable persons, pastoral responsibility, and compliance with legal, ethical, and moral norms."

___

* Details regarding the manner in which the sexual assault of the minor occurred were not disclosed to protect any victim of sexual abuse from retraumatization. 

** The mother's name has been changed to protect her identity.

If you have been the victim of sexual abuse committed by a priest and feel you can speak about your experience, you can write to us, in complete safety and confidentiality, at [email protected].