St. Agatha Catholic Church Pastor …

FLORIDA
NBC 6

St. Agatha Catholic Church Pastor Placed on Administrative Leave After Latest Sexual Abuse Allegations: Archdiocese

By Edward B. Colby

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012

The Archdiocese of Miami announced Wednesday that it has placed Father Rolando Garcia on administrative leave because of the newest sexual abuse allegations brought against him.

The Archdiocese said in a statement that it did not know about the allegations from Tony Simmons before he made them public in a news conference Tuesday.

After learning about them, the Archdiocese put Garcia, who is the pastor of St. Agatha Catholic Church, on administrative leave on Wednesday. The Archdiocese also said it will offer counseling to Simmons and investigate the matter following procedures in its “Protecting God’s Children” policy.

Simmons said he was a 16-year-old runaway when he met Garcia at Church of the Little Flower in Hollywood in 1994. A lawsuit filed Tuesday says that Garcia initially gave him assistance and counseling, but began sexually abusing Simmons after they went to a movie one night.

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