Peter Kramer is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

who sexually abused children in the

diocese of Regensburg The Diocese of Regensburg ( la, Dioecesis Ratisbonensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory seated in Regensburg, Germany. Its district covers parts of northeastern Bavaria; it is subordinate to the archbishop of Munich and Freising. , ...

Early life and ordination

Kramer was previously an

auto mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

, and he received a late ordination in 1997 after Abitur in Fockenfeld. He was then stationed in the locality of

Viechtach Viechtach is a town in the district of Regen in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most p ...

Abuse trial

1999 indictment

Kramer was removed from ministry two years later, after the local bishop was alerted that he had abused two boys near his parish. According to the judge who issued Kramer's indictment in 1999, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller's opinions were not given by him (as alleged by the court), but by the diocese in the person of a therapist chosen by the priest. In 2000, Kramer was convicted in a non-public trial and was allowed to just serve a sentence of three years probation he was ordered to go to therapy and not work to with children during the probation.

2004 legal memorandum

A legal officer of the diocese, immediately after a conversation with the judge at court on 20 February 2004, issued a memorandum barring Kramer from pastoral care and contact with children. Kramer had been caught violating his court-ordered probation by serving in a parish with children starting in February 2001. According to the guidelines of the German Bishops' Conference, in 2004 Kramer was considered a pedophile had been regarded as 2004 according to reports not pedophiles. As provided for in paragraph 12, "2. After serving his sentence the offender no tasks are assigned to more that get him in connection with children and adolescents."

New allegations in 2007

On 30 August 2007, Kramer was arrested on suspicion of further sexual abuse. Four weeks later, the Nuremberg Higher Regional Court declared that the judge in Viechtach had warned against reassigning the convicted priest to the youth ministry; however, it also said its report should not have official status, but serve as an opinion. Kramer was then tried and convicted.

Role of Bishop Ludwig Müller

In September 2007 allegations against Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller surfaced after the Passau ''Neue Presse'' revealed at the end of July that former chaplain "PK", convicted of sexual abuse in 2000, had been reassigned as a parish administrator in the autumn of 2004 without informing the affected community of his background. The diocese defended its actions on the basis of an opinion by the priest's therapist, avowing that his patient had recovered and he had no concerns about a reassignment; in addition, the court-imposed probationary period had passed without any further infractions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Peter Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests Catholic priests convicted of child sexual abuse Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Germany Living people Violence against men in Europe 21st-century German Roman Catholic priests People from Regen (district)