3 Accused in This Religious Order
Fr. Juan Carlos Castano-Mejia
Priest of The Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Ipiales, Colombia. Arrived in the U.S. in 1999; investigated before being granted visiting priest status. Arrested and indicted in 4/2002 on charges that he sexually abused a 4-year-old girl in 2000. She told her brother who told another relative. The incident was not reported to the Diocese until 2002. In 4/2003, Castano-Mejia admitted to fondling the child and was sentenced to 2 years in jail, 2 years probation, and required to pay restitution. There may have been similar allegations in South America. Included onthe Charleston diocese's 3/29/19 list of credibly accused. Deported after his release from prison. Included on the Charlotte diocese's list 12/29/2019.
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Sources:
Fr. Peter R. Cebulka
Named publicly in 11/2021 by Attorney Jeff Anderson as accused in a lawsuit filed under the NJ Victims' Rights Bill. In 11/2021 the website of St. Ann's Parish in Raritan, NJ (Diocese of Metuchen) shows Cebulka as Head of School and teacher. His name is no longer on the school's site in 12/2022.
Fr. John J. Gallagher
Named publicly as accused by the Charlotte diocese on its list 12/29/2019. Accused in 9/1971 of recently inappropriately touching a teenage girl at Our Lady of Lourdes in Monroe, where he was filling in one weekend. The parish was in the Diocese of Raleigh at the time, prior to the creation of the Charlotte diocese. The girl's family did not press charges. The Oratorians restricted Gallagher's ministry. He died 11/14/1976. Per a 1974 news report about a trip he took to Ireland, Gallagher had spent the previous 36 years visiting various SC churches to preach on Sundays. Added to the Diocese of Charleston's list 12/31/2019.