FLORIDA
Huffington Post
The Archdiocese of Miami continues to defend embattled priest Father Rolando Garcia, who is facing a fresh accusation he used hush money to conceal another priest’s abuse of an underaged boy.
That victim, now an adult, appeared before the media Thursday with attorney Jeff Herman to allege that Garcia, currently pastor at St. Agatha Catholic Church in West Miami-Dade, bought the victim’s complicit silence regarding his knowledge of the repeated assaults.
“He was paying me to keep it quiet while [Fr.] Cristobal de Jesus Puertas was raping me,” said the man, whose identity is being concealed. “This man is preaching to hundreds of people over there and he’s wearing a mask.”
Fr. Garcia has himself been accused of molesting young boys in the church. The church leader was named in previous lawsuits against the archdiocese alleging he engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with alter boys, with the most recent suit filed in September.
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