The Spanish priest and journalist Antonio Pelayo, correspondent in Rome for decades, will sit in the dock in Italy for an alleged sexual offense following the complaint filed by a young television producer. The information comes from a report by El Mundo, who have had access to both the complaint and the prosecution’s indictment from the Rome Prosecutor’s Office, as well as messages exchanged between the complainant and the accused.
The report places the events in May 2025, in a context of professional contacts prior to the last conclave, and states that the first hearing of the trial has been set for May 14, 2026, by the Rome Criminal Court. Pelayo declined to make statements to the media on the advice of his lawyer.
What the Italian justice system is investigating
According to the prosecution’s document incorporated into the case, the accused would have performed “sexual acts” without consent during a professional meeting. The Public Prosecutor’s narrative describes two episodes: first, sitting on a sofa, Pelayo would have suddenly approached the complainant, grabbed him by the shoulder, kissed him between the neck and shoulder, and inserted his hand under the t-shirt, touching his back, side, and abdomen, “thus preventing the victim from moving or reacting”.
The second episode, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, would have occurred in the kitchen: Pelayo would have hugged the complainant from the front and put “both hands under the pants,” repeatedly touching his buttocks.
According to El Mundo, the Italian justice system is investigating whether Antonio Pelayo forced the complainant to submit to sexual acts without his consent, in events that the Prosecutor’s Office frames under article 609-bis of the Italian Penal Code, relating to sexual violence.
Chronology of the events and the complaint
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Late February 2025: the television producer contacts Pelayo, according to the report, in the context of informational preparation ahead of a possible conclave following Pope Francis’s hospitalization.
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May 7–8, 2025: the conclave takes place, which the report refers to as “the last,” in which the new Pope would have been elected.
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Friday, May 23, 2025: the date on which the complainant places the episode at Pelayo’s home in Rome, according to the complaint cited by Crónica.
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Saturday, May 24, 2025: Pelayo sends a first apology message to the young man, according to the messages reproduced by the media.
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Sunday, May 25, 2025: the complainant responds in writing expressing discomfort about what happened and stating that he did not want physical contact, according to the published exchange of messages.
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Monday, May 26, 2025: Pelayo insists on apologizing in a new message, according to Crónica.
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Wednesday, May 28, 2025: the complainant files the complaint at a police station in central Rome, according to the report.
The report adds that the Carabinieri opened an investigation, that Pelayo later testified in court, and that his defense requested dismissal without success.
Procedural situation
The report indicates that, following the complaint, the Carabinieri initiated an investigation and a judicial case was opened. Pelayo’s defense would have requested dismissal, without success. According to El Mundo, the Rome Prosecutor’s Office, after analyzing the evidence gathered, requested on November 6 the indictment of Pelayo for the alleged offense under article 609-bis.
Likewise, the Rome Criminal Court would have notified the parties that the first hearing will take place on May 14, 2026, the date on which Pelayo will appear as the accused.
The report identifies Ilaria Corda and Giuseppe Cascini as those responsible for the sexual offenses area of the Prosecutor’s Office who coordinated the investigation with the Carabinieri, and the lawyers Massimiliano Lecce and Federico Olivo as counsel for the prosecution/representation of the complainant.
Reactions gathered by the report
The victim makes a single statement without going into details: “For me, all the people who know the facts are accomplices,” and also claims that there is a climate of silence surrounding what happened. After the events, he went to a psychologist on the same day he filed the complaint and his company supported him; months later, at the end of 2025, the international television network for which he works assigned him outside Italy.
As for the accused, the report states that Pelayo declined to make statements when contacted by telephone, on the recommendation of his lawyer. It also mentions messages attributed to Pelayo after the reported episode, in which he repeatedly apologizes and expresses shame, according to the published text.
Antonio Pelayo: brief biography (according to El Mundo)
Antonio Pelayo Bombín was born in Valladolid in January 1944. He entered the seminary at age 11 and trained at Comillas with the Jesuits; he completed minor seminary, Philosophy, and Theology before being ordained a priest.
His journalistic beginnings, according to the profile outlined in the report, include the newspaper Ya, collaborations with a film magazine (Cinestudio), and film reviews in Vida Nueva. In 1976 he moved to Paris as a correspondent and in January 1986 he relocated to Rome to cover Italian life and the Holy See.
The media adds that, during his four decades in Rome, he has covered five conclaves and that currently he is a correspondent for Antena 3 and “dean of the Vaticanists.”
Finally, the report indicates that Pelayo has served as an advisor to the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See since 2005 in a “voluntary and unpaid” capacity, but that, according to sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pelayo “currently does not exercise” his function as voluntary advisor at the Spanish embassy to the Holy See, while the evolution of the case is being followed.