FLORIDA
Miami Herald
BY WANDA J. DeMARZO, JAY WEAVER AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH
jlebovich@MiamiHerald.com
The Broward Sheriff's Office on Thursday arrested a former priest who had served parishes in South Florida for three decades on charges he sexually abused a young boy.
The Rev. Neil Doherty, 62, is the first Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Miami to be charged with sexual battery on a minor younger than 12.
Alleged victims of Doherty have been coming forward ever since the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002.
Broward authorities began investigating the latest case after the victim filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami, accusing it of allowing the priest to serve at a Margate parish despite having settled an earlier lawsuit involving previous alleged child molestation by Doherty.
While at the Margate parish, the priest allegedly drugged and raped the latest victim, now 19, over a five-year period beginning in 1996.