First High-ranking Hierarch of Romanian Orthodox Church Imprisoned

The High Court of Cassation and Justice decided on Wednesday, April 30, to sentence in a final ruling Corneliu Bârlădeanu to 8 years in prison for continuous rape and sexual assault. The Supreme Court rejected Corneliu Bârlădeanu’s appeal against the lower court’s sentence. Corneliu Bârlădeanu, who has the rank of retired bishop, is to be imprisoned, as it is a final ruling.

The conviction follows an investigation published by the Să fie lumină website. Along with the former bishop, the former archimandrite of the Huși Diocese, Sebastian Jitaru, was also convicted of similar crimes. In his case, the judges reduced the initial sentence by one year, with Jitaru serving 14 years and 2 months in prison.

In addition to the conviction, the judges banned the former bishop of Huși from holding public office for 5 years after serving his sentence. They are also prohibited from approaching or communicating with the victims for five years after they are released from prison.

Bishop Barladeanul came back to his layman name, Corneliu Onilă and retired from the public eye in August 2017.

The former Husi bishop, currently Corneliu Onila and Sebastian Jitaru were charged with over 100 rapes. In addition to the conviction, they were ordered by the court to pay 170,000 euros to the three victims. The amount will have to be paid jointly and severally with the Huși Diocese and the St. John the Golden Horoscope Theological Seminary, considered civilly liable parties for the actions of the two clerics.

In addition to paying moral damages, the two defendants and the civilly liable parties were also ordered to pay almost 100,000 lei in legal costs.

The Huși Diocese was at the center of an unprecedented sexual scandal in 2017. Bishop Corneliu Bârlădeanu was blackmailed by three clergymen, including Archimandrite Sebastian Jitaru, with compromising video recordings. Advised by his advisors, Bârlădeanu filed a complaint with the DNA for blackmail. The three priests were sent to trial and convicted of blackmail, with the investigation initially limited to this crime.

“Să fie lumină” reporters revealed at the time that at least one video evidence demonstrating the sexual abuse of the former Huși bishop, Corneliu Onilă, did not reach the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Iași Court of Appeal. The journalists detailed how the sexual abuse of seminary students took place right in the cells of the prelates, as well as the testimony of a student from Huși who accuses that he was abused by the priest.

Following the revelations, the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Iași Court of Appeal decided to reopen the criminal investigation. Corneliu Bârlădeanu retired from office in August 2017, and has been in penance at the Văratec Monastery since then. He denied the accusations against him, stating, through his lawyer, that the images incriminating him are faked. Throughout this period, he maintained his rank as retired bishop.