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MADRID (AP) — A judge in Spain's southern city of Granada has dropped indictments against nine priests and two Catholic lay workers in a sex abuse case that prompted Pope Francis to call an alleged victim.
The judge left in place an indictment against one priest, suspected of abusing teenage boys in a priest's parochial home between 2004 and 2007.
The judge's court said the 11 were suspected of lower level charges with a statute of limitation of three years.
The statement Monday said the priest who remains indicted faces abuse charges with a statute of limitation of 10 years.
Francis in November told reporters he received a letter documenting abuse from an alleged victim and called him, telling him to report it in person at the Granada diocese.
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