BROOKLYN (NY)
Gothamist

October 15, 2018

By Taylor Dolven

For five years, Father Roberto Cadavid led mass, heard confessions and guided children through the confirmation process as a priest at Catholic churches in Brooklyn and Queens, until he returned to his native Colombia in the summer of 2017. It wasn’t until 10 months later that his old parishioners were informed of why he left the United States: children in Colombia had come forward to accuse Cadavid of sexual abuse.

A review of records and correspondence by Gothamist shows that the Diocese of Brooklyn bypassed its own safety protocols to hire Cadavid in 2012. When the Diocese of Medellín eventually informed Brooklyn about Cadavid’s long history of alleged abuse in June 2017, the diocese let Cadavid go quietly.

By the time Cadavid arrived in Brooklyn in December 2012 to start his work here, at least four young boys had come…