Priest arrested in Italy for organizing sex parties for up to 200 people with money from his parishioners

The priest Francesco Spagnesi, 40 years old, until a few days ago was pastor of a well-known church in lawn (Italy), the Annunciation of Castellina, but now He fell out of favor after authorities arrested him on drug trafficking charges, among other charges.

Spagnesi had lived a double life, organizing sex orgies with drugs that he financed with money from his parishioners and in which he allegedly contracted a sexually transmitted disease.

The unusual story has shocked Italy since last week when police arrested the now former parish priest for trafficking and international importation of drugs, in addition to accusing him of embezzlement for having pocketed the offerings of the faithful and the money of the Curia, a sum which according to the authorities exceeds 200 thousand euros.

His situation is not good at all, since he was arrested, he has been confined to his home, from where he cannot leave, and now the charges against him are added, that of “Very serious injuries”, because according to the prosecutor in charge of the case, the priest he would not have told the participants of his feasts and orgies his status as seropositive for the AIDS virus (HIV).

With the parish priest, he also investigates Alessio Regina, lover and accomplice of Spagnesi.

According to the magistrate Giuseppe Nicolosi, of the public prosecutor’s office of Prato, Spagnesi and Regina they bought cocaine and GBL, a narcotic known as the “date rape drug” in the Netherlands with money taken from the Curia and they used them to organize sex parties which they called through the internet and attended until 200 people.

According to Italian media, the parishioners received with surprise the news of the arrest of their parish priest, whom they appreciated for being a young man and dynamic but about the one they said it was noticeable down in the latest services.

“He was nervous, shy and absent, he did not like to organize baptisms, communions, confirmations and marriages”, said a faithful to Corriere della Sera.

For his part, the Bishop of Prato, Giovanni Nerbini, expressed “Pain and dismay” for what happened. Nerbini said in a statement that he had known for a long time “A strong state of physical and psychological suffering of the priest but no one could have imagined that he had drug addiction problems.”

The bishop said the diocese had started to notice suspicious movements in the parish accounts, so he decided to withdraw the parish priest’s power of attorney. This led to Spagnesi’s impeachment earlier this month and his subsequent arrest last Friday.

Parties, orgies and spending by handful

The prosecutor’s office reported that after the former priest’s last interrogation, he said that at his parties between 20 and 30 people participated regularly. At least two of them declared to be HIV positive.

Spagnesi admitted that she knew she was HIV positive but that did not stop her from continuing to have unprotected sex with various people, for which he is now reported to have deliberately infected the participants of his feasts and orgies.

Although the priest said all relationships were consensual and protected, at least 15 witnesses heard by the prosecution denied this assertion.

According to the authorities, these festivals have been taking place at least since 2019, when illegal drug imports started from The Netherlands. These festivals were celebrated every seven or ten days.

In the beginning, all the funding for this extreme way of life came from the faithful and the parish, that according to the prosecution amounted to more than 200 thousand euros.

barely in For two months, the parish priest withdrew 40,000 euros from the parish account and made other credit payments of 75,000 euros.

After losing access to these accounts, the parish priest addressed the parishioners directly, from whom he supposedly asked for money for families in difficulty.

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