Priest Put on Leave Amid Sex Allegations

By James D. Davis
Sun Sentinel
October 25, 2012

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-10-24/news/fl-priest-abuse-allegation-20121024-84_1_garcia-archdiocesan-investigation-priest

The Rev. Rolando Garcia was placed on administrative leave Wednesday, a day after a 34-year-old man filed suit against the Archdiocese of Miami, saying the priest molested him when he was a teenager living in Hollywood.

“The Archdiocese will offer counseling to the alleged victim and conduct an investigation following procedures outlined in ‘Protecting God’s Children’ [policy],” according to a release from the archdiocesan communications office.

In the lawsuit, Tony Simmons alleges that Garcia initiated a sexual relationship with him around 1994, when Garcia was at Little Flower Church in Hollywood and, Simmons was a 16-year-old runaway.

“I’ve got a daughter and a boy that’s coming,” said Simmons, who lives in Charlottesville, Va. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Garcia is pastor at St. Agatha Catholic Church in Miami, which referred questions to the archdiocesan communications office.

According to the lawsuit, Garcia offered the teenager food and counseling. That grew into a relationship of several years involving movies, concerts, alcohol, pornography, “oral sex and sodomy,” the lawsuit says.

The two stayed in touch even after Simmons’ military service from 2003-2010. But Simmons kept quiet, he said, because “I honestly thought I was the only person. And if it came out, I could lose my job.”

He changed his mind Oct. 15 after the priest told him of another accusation and then laughed about it, Simmons said. “That sent chills down my spine.”

The lawsuit accuses the archdiocese of knowing Garcia’s alleged pedophile habits and hiding it from the public. It asks for compensation “in excess of $5 million.”

Simmons’ attorney, Jeff Herman, has filed three other lawsuits against Garcia since 2005. Two were settled out of court for undisclosed sums, including one by an accuser who said he couldn’t be sure if the alleged abuser was Garcia, Herman said.

The third lawsuit, which Herman filed Sept. 6, is ongoing. For that case, too, Garcia was placed on administrative leave during an archdiocesan investigation, then voluntarily took a lie detector test, which he passed, according to the archdiocese. The priest issued a statement “adamantly” denying the charge and returned to duty.