Andrea Contin, a Catholic priest in a northern Italian community, is accused of living lavishly off of “immoral earnings,” holding orgies in his rectory, pimping out women, and a host of other crimes and peccadilloes not befitting a man of the cloth, the Independent is reporting .
The 48-year-old Contin first came to the attention of church authorities last summer, but officials did not report those concerns immediately to the police, pending their own internal investigation. It is not clear how, when, or why the police became aware of Contin’s alleged crimes. But as Italian newspaper Il Mattino di Padova reports, in a report entitled “ The Pastor of Orgies ,” police are now taking a look at allegations of prostitution.
L’UFFINGTON POST – L’amante di don Andrea Contin “Facevamo sesso… https://t.co/7qWz6t9hs6 #PaginaNuova #Press https://t.co/oVI8IQumjQ pic.twitter.com/3zv7JcxqgZ
— Pagina Nuova (@PaginaNuova) December 30, 2016
Three women in Contin’s parish — the Church of St. Lazarus in the northern Italian city of Padua — complained that their former priest was up to no good. One woman, a 49-year-old church volunteer who copped to having carried on an affair with the priest, including having sex with him in the church rectory, said that Contin appeared to be popular with the ladies.
“There were a lot of women hovering around him. I didn’t understand it at first, only later.”
Beyond having sex with women in the rectory, Contin is further accused of taking some of his friends to a nudist/swingers resort in Cap d’Agde, a tony resort city on France’s southern coast.
Cap d’Agde, located on the sunny shores of the Mediterranean, South of France. Join us! Takeover Jul 27-Aug 02 https://t.co/NARFnpzQJ0 pic.twitter.com/NqIBDCiYAh
— LLV Club (+21) (@LLVClub) December 28, 2016
Of course, carrying on affairs and sneaking off to swingers’ resorts may be ecclesiastical crimes, they are not crimes in the legal sense. Prostitution, however, is a crime in Italy, and Italian police believe that they have evidence that Contin was involved in the sex trade.
Specifically, authorities claim that Contin arranged for orgies at his rectory and allegedly pimped out women to other men for a fee. Using websites like Scambiomoglie.it, Annunci69.it and Bakeka.it (“Scambio Moglie” is Italian for “Wife Sharing”; “Annunci69” means “Advertisement 69”), police say, Contin allegedly took payment from various men who would participate in his orgies.
“The messages were explicit nude photos but with [the women’s] faces covered.”
The men had no idea that they were going to a priest’s rectory for the orgies, although some must have found it exciting, Il Mattino wryly notes. The orgies have believed to have taken place every two weeks.
Unfortunately for Contin’s “customers,” it appears their numbers are about to come up. Police have already hired computer forensics experts who are expected to sort through all of the electronic traces and match names to transactions.
Contin also allegedly kept video evidence of his alleged crimes; police, carrying out a raid on his rectory, seized “a variety of” sex toys as well as videos of the alleged orgies. Those videos were kept in cases bearing the names of popes.
Contin, who has not yet been charged with any crimes, has left Italy, although whether he has fled or is simply out of town is a matter of debate. For years, Contin has vacationed with his family at a property in Croatia, and that’s where he is now. Padua Mayor Paolo Tonin says that Contin has no travel restrictions against him, so he is free to come and go as he pleases. However, Tonin also notes that it’s possible Contin left town to “protect himself from the clamor of this story that is now national.”
[Featured Image by Thoom /Shutterstock]