Msgr Carlo Alberto Capella After months of investigation, Vatican police have arrested a former staff member at the Vatican nunciature in Washington on charges related to the possession and distribution of images of child abuse.
The Vatican said that Msgr Carlo Alberto Capella was taken into custody by the Vatican gendarmes at the request of Vatican City State’s promoter of justice, who serves as chief prosecutor and directs criminal investigations.
One of the charges related to a person who “distributes, disseminates, transmits, imports, exports, offers or sells child pornography through any means, even electronically, as well as whoever possess child pornography for those purposes or otherwise distributes or disseminates knowledge of information directed at grooming or exploiting minors for sexual purposes”.
The violation carries a prison sentence of one year to five years and a fine from €2,500 to €50,000, which is increased depending on the volume of illegal material discovered.
The Italian monsignor was recalled to the Vatican from Washington after the US State Department notified the Holy See on August 21 of his possible violation of laws relating to child pornography images.