In a decision made public on Monday, the cathedral chapter of the Stockholm diocese said it planned to open a new investigation into the pastor’s behaviour.
The decision, taken during a closed-door meeting last week, comes amid calls for the pastor’s resignation from parish members.
“We want to make the point that this isn’t okay. This concerns a pastor in a position which gives him unequal standing relative to the confirmation candidates,” the parish’s deputy vicar told the TT news agency last week.
The pastor, who continues to work while on probation, was first reported to the diocese in 2009 for having a sexual relationship with a then 16-year-old girl.
The girl explained that the pastor would get her drunk and allegedly forced himself on her, offering as evidence sexually explicit images and texts, as well as a short film from the pastor where he is heard saying his ”dick is sore”.
The girl’s reports resulted in the cathedral chapter putting the pastor on probation for three years, but no police report was ever filed.
However, in December 2011, the diocese received a new complaint detailing the pastor’s ”boundless behaviour” and questioning whether he was fit to remain on the job.
According to the report, the pastor had spread written accounts of his youth group exploits to friends in which he referred to one of the girls as a ”sex doll” (‘knulldocka’).
The parish filed a police report as well, but the investigation was dropped because there was no evidence a crime had been committed.
But the man, dubbed the “sex pastor” in the Swedish press, is now set to face a new internal church probe into whether his actions are befitting a man of the cloth.
“This is about someone who is exercising their official duties, who is the outward face of the Church of Sweden. After a time, this damages the churches reputation,” the deputy vicar told TT.
TT/The Local/dl
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