The founder and head of a Polish organization dedicated to helping victims of pedophile priests has resigned after allegations surfaced that he tried to extort money from a victim and demanded money from the producers of a documentary about clerical abuse.

The foundation "Have No Fear" said the head of its board, Marek Lisinski, has resigned and that it has opened an internal audit into the allegations reported Thursday by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

The development comes as the mostly Roman Catholic country has begun a reckoning with the problem of clerical sex abuse.

Lisinski, himself a survivor of clerical abuse, played a key role in forcing the public to confront the problem by forming the foundation five years ago.

It vowed it would keep working to help victims.