Vatican diplomat indicted for child porn possession

VATICAN CITY – A Vatican court has indicted on child pornography possession charges a diplomat recalled from Washington last year amid ongoing investigations in three jurisdictions.

The Vatican said in a statement Saturday that Monsignor Carlo Capella, who was the No. 4 official in its Washington embassy, would face a trial starting June 22.

Capella, a high-ranking priest in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, was the subject of investigations by the Vatican and in the United States and Canada. He has been in Vatican custody since April.

The Vatican recalled him after the U.S. State Department notified it in August of a “possible violation of laws relating to child pornography images” by a diplomat in Washington.

Canadian police have said Capella allegedly uploaded child porn from a social networking site over the 2016 Christmas holiday.