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Rabat — Three underage migrants have testified against French priest Antoine Exelmas, accused of sexually abusing asylum seekers and migrants in Casablanca.
AFP quoted the Catholic Archbishop of Rabat, who said the archdiocese fully cooperated with Moroccan and foreign authorities on the case.
“As soon as the facts were brought to our attention, we undertook the procedures required by church rules and fully cooperated with authorities, both in Morocco and abroad, by sharing the results of our investigation,” Archbishop Cristobal Lopez Romero told AFP.
The viral case was reported by Enass, a Moroccan news outlet, which said that police received a complaint against Antoine Exelmans in May last year, accusing him of sexual abuse.
The news outlet said the priest is allegedly involved in sexually abusing at least six victims, the majority from Guinea and one from Cameroon.
Enass also reported on the “system of sexual exploitation” that Exelmas was involved in against migrant and refugee minors lasted at least four years.
The outlet added that one of the victims was a 17-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea. Police, to date, have listened to three out of the six alleged victims.
Archbishop Romero said Exelmans was under house arrest in France, with the court imposing restrictions on him and banning him from any contact with minors unless another adult was present.
He added that the church was first notified of inappropriate behavior by the priest in July 2024, but the case has only come to final fruition lately.
The case that has recently been highlighted by the media comes amid another scandal involving priest Yves Grosjean, who was jailed for sexual assaults on minors.
Earlier this month, AFP reported that the 68-year-old priest had admitted to different abuse cases.
Police in France put Grosjean in custody in May after a complaint by a young man, who accused him of sexual assault. The incident took place in France in 2019 when the complainant was only 12 years old.
A collective representing the priest’s victims identified 17 men who reported being sexually assaulted out of 57 total contacted by the association. The individuals were in contact with the priest when they were minors.
The association estimated that between 400 and 500 minors had contact with the priest during his career in France. The number does not include his service in Rabat, where he served between 2017 and 2024.
The priest left Morocco in 2024 when new accusations had been made against him. His transfer to Rabat also took place after an individual first accused him of sexually assaulting a minor.
