How did a priest of the Church of Denmark manage to sexually abuse children for a decade without being detected? Gry Hoffmann investigates the case of Dan Peschack, who is now serving a 10-year prison sentence for the abuse of eight children. <\/p>
Through interviews first recorded for Danish Broadcasting Corporation\u2019s P1 documentary, she discovers \u201cThe Seducer\u201d - a man who used his charisma and the power of his position in the Evangelical Lutheran state church to abuse children in the village of T\u00f8mmerup near Kalundborg on the west coast of Denmark. When Peschack was first arrested in 2016, many of the locals didn\u2019t want to believe it, while others had been carrying a terrible secret for years.<\/p>
In graphic accounts, which some listeners may find upsetting, victims describe their experience of Peschack\u2019s abuse. One speaks of his shock at discovering the extent of the assaults and of his anger at the betrayal by a man who he thought was his friend. Parents who were suspicious regret their failure to act, while others realise they were duped into trusting their children to a paedophile. <\/p>
Peschack\u2019s appeal against his sentence has been rejected and he\u2019s been banned from working as a priest, but have lessons been learned by the church authorities, whose priest inflicted on his victims such devastating harm? <\/p>
Reporter: Gry Hoffmann \nProducer: Sheila Cook \nEditor: Bridget Harney <\/p>
(Image: Tommerup town name road-sign with church in background. Credit: Gry Hoffmann)<\/p>\n