A Kerala court has sentenced a Christian priest to 18 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually abusing four minor boys of a seminary in Kollam district five years ago.

Fr Thomas Parekkulam (35), a member of Chennai-based SDM minor seminary, was on Friday found guilty of the crime registered by police in Puthoor under Kottarakkara circle in the commission of offences punishable under Section 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code and other relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act, 2012.