A Catholic priest who organised a gay 0rgy in which a man was hospitalised after overdosing on erectile dysfunction pills has been arrested.
Father Tomasz Zmarzły from the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels in Poland was charged with sex and drug crimes as well as failure to help someone at medical risk following a police investigation into the incident.
Last year, the disgraced clergyman allegedly hosted a small party with a male prostitute and his friend at his apartment in the city of Dąbrowa Górnicza.
Prosecutors launched an investigation into the priest for failing to help the unconscious man after he refused entry to police and paramedics after they called about a man who collapsed.
Leaked telephone recordings suggested that the victim may have been plied with the date rape drug known as GHB.
According to Fakt newspaper which received the recording, a man believed to be the male prostitute is heard talking frantically to the emergency services.
In the call, the paper said he is heard sobbing: ‘He was so high… And they told me that he shouldn’t be touched! I tell them, check, I lifted his head and he was foaming at the mouth…’
He is then allegedly heard saying: ‘There are bars on the doors, I don’t know why… they kicked me out, hurry up!
‘Yeah, they were taking some DHB or something. I don’t know. Some GHB and drops or something… I don’t know, send an ambulance here. And the police.’
When police and paramedics were finally allowed into the apartment, they found a naked man lying unconscious on the floor.
He was taken to hospital where he later recovered and discharged himself.
It later emerged that Father Zmarzły who was suspended following the incident had also been looking for hookups on the gay dating app.
According to his former partner who contacted local newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, Zmarzły turned to dating app after being unsure about becoming a priest.
The former partner said: ‘At the end of his studies at the seminary, Tomek, aware of his homosexuality, hesitated about whether to accept priestly ordination at all.
‘He [went on] Grindr but he finally decided to become a priest.’
Local outrage in the strongly Catholic town saw one man attempting to burn down the church and ‘the faithful’ stopped their children attending service.
The local mayor also cut off ties with the church which is overseen by the diocese of Sosnowiec.
Posting on social media at the time, mayor Arkadiusz Chęciński said: ‘As a city, we are famous for tolerance and respect for all faiths and views.
‘However, due to recent reports from the diocese negatively influencing opinions about the city, the outrage of the inhabitants and the lack of a clear dissociation from these matters forces me to make the unpleasant decision to suspend the city’s cooperation with the Diocese of Sosnowiec until real corrective actions are taken.’
