Spanish priest gets two years jail for abusing boy

MADRID, Nov 13 (Reuters) A Spanish Roman Catholic priest was jailed for two years today for sexually abusing a boy during visits to the child's home to help with his homework, a Madrid court said.

Rafael Sanz Nieto, 74, touched the boy's genitals during regular visits to his home for two years from 1999 when the victim was 13, Madrid's Provincial Court said in a sentence in which it also fined the priest.

The court ruled the Archbishopric of Madrid was also partly responsible for the crime, for failing to protect the boy, which means it would have to pay the 30,000 euro (,580) fine if Sanz Nieto was unable to raise the money.

The Spanish church has largely escaped the floods of sexual abuse cases which have hit other parts of the Catholic world. But Catholicism has steadily lost ground in Spain's once devout but increasingly secular society.

REUTERS AB VV2153