On 18 December 2015 Reggio Calabria police arrested a 44-year-old priest on charges of paying 20 euros for sex with a minor, misrepresenting his identity, luring a minor, and possession of child pornography. The minor told police he first contacted the priest on gay social network smartphone app Grindr, and said the priest used an assumed name and told him he was a scientific researcher aged between 35 and 38. He was arrested in the rectory of a parish church in the Piana di Gioia Tauro valley and taken to jail. The unnamed priest had earlier been arrested in March 2015 when police caught him in his car with another minor in a secluded and rarely frequented area.
