10 priests indicted in sex abuse case in Spain

Madrid, Spain (AP) — A judge in the southern Spanish city of Granada has indicted 10 priests and two Catholic lay workers in a sex abuse case that prompted Pope Francis to call one of the alleged victims.

According to the indictment filed Tuesday, the 12 are suspected of abusing four teenage boys in a priest’s parochial home between 2004 and 2007. They are free on bail pending trial.

Francis in November told reporters he received a letter documenting the abuse from one of the alleged victims and then called him, telling him to report it in person at the Granada diocese.

Francis also said he wrote to the bishop and pressed him to launch an investigation.

The suspects face possible jail time of more than 20 years each.