Father Rolando Garcia Named in Sex Abuse Lawsuit against Catholic Archdiocese of Miami VIDEO

Huffington Post
September 8, 2012

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/07/catholic-priest-sex-abuse-lawsuit-rolando-garcia_n_1864105.html


[with video]

The child sex abuse saga plaguing South Florida's Catholic church has spawned yet another lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami -- this one centered on fresh allegations against a priest previously accused of molestation.

Father Rolando Garcia is accused of inappropriate sexual contact in the 1980s with a litigant referred to "John Doe 94". The lawsuit, according to CBS Miami, says Garcia fondled the child and other salacious acts over a period of 18 months at St. John Bosco in Little Havana, but the Archdiocese of Miami knowingly failed to act -- and had even "actively concealed" a previous allegation brought in the early 1980s.

"[He would] kiss me, abuse me, touch me," John Doe 94 told local media. "It's like a nightmare -- a person I'm thinking is going to be there for me."

Last month, after the church received notice the suit would be filed, Garcia read a statement to his current parishioners at St. Agatha Church in Southwest Miami-Dade that was also issued by the Archdiocese.

"I adamantly deny these charges, which I strongly believe, were maliciously fabricated," he told congregants, noting he voluntarily took and passed a polygraph test. "Needless to say, I am totally innocent of this allegation."

The charges are not the first leveled against Fr. Garcia, who was among six priests named in lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese in the summer of 2007. Another alleged victim called "John Doe 32" said that Garcia sexually abused him as an 11-year-old alter boy at St. John Bosco in 1989.

The case was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2009, and according to the Miami Herald only Garcia among those accused remained active in the Archdiocese.

"He can hide it, he can lie, but I know its true what he did to me," said John Doe 94, according to NBC Miami.

A recent class action suit against a former Miami priest, Rev. Neil Doherty, resulted in a whopping $100 million verdict last November. CBS Miami reports John Doe 94 and his attorneys are seeking more than $5 million in damages.

"Why now? Because I have kids, and I don't want nobody to touch my kids," he said.