Francesco Spagnesi

Francesco Spagnesi (born 1981) is a Roman Catholic priest from the Italian Catholic Diocese of Prato, in Tuscany Italy, who was sentenced to three years in prison in late 2021 for "stealing thousands of euros in church funds and donations to buy drugs for gay sex parties that he hosted". According to Costanza Malerba, the attorney representing Spagnesi, as of mid-September 2021 Spagnesi had "already confessed" to having supplied drugs at his house parties and will "soon" be confessing "to misappropriating church funds". Also as of mid-September, police were interviewing approximately "200 people" who are said to have attended Spagnesi’s parties over the last few years. According to italy24news, two of the regular party goers have "declared that they are HIV-positive". Spagnesi and his roommate Alessio Regina are thought to have used "gay hookup sites to invite other guests to sex parties, where Spagnesi would use and also sell the drugs". According to the police, GBL (“liquid ecstasy", "a staple of gay chemsex parties") He was considered "young, brilliant, all-involving and refined" by his parishioners who “had great faith” in him, according to a local newspaper, La Nazione.

Spagnesi has expressed remorse and blamed cocaine for his actions. Now he study Medicine in Florence.