New child sex abuse & cover up lawsuit is filed

Catholic priest has never been publicly accused before

Alleged victim will speak for the first time at the event

He was victimized by two clerics, one in Central America

One abuser was very popular & a Miami street is named after him

WHAT
A news conference to announce the filing of a new lawsuit alleging that a Miami Catholic priest sexually abused a Central American immigrant in the 1980s

WHEN
TODAY, APRIL 27 at 1pm

WHERE
Near Gesu Catholic Church, corner of NE 2nd St. and NE 1st Ave. (at a street named after the accused predator) in downtown Miami (near street sign holding alleged predator’s name)

WHO
The victim in the lawsuit, who will speak to media for the first time, his attorney, who has represented hundreds of clergy sex abuse victims, and a woman who is the founder of a Chicago-based international support group for clergy sexual abuse victims

DETAILS
The just-filed civil lawsuit says Fr. Juan Ramon O’Farrill sexually abused an immigrant boy who had earlier been molested by another priest in Central America.

The victim, Alejandro Mora, was born in Nicaragua in 1972. He came from a devout family and was an altar boy. While in Nicaragua, he was sexually abused by a priest. In 1988, he immigrated to Miami, and like many victims, he sought counseling and guidance to heal from the abuse.

He approached O’Farrill, then a priest at St. Michael the Archangel parish, who brought Mora to confession and then moved the counseling session to the rectory. There he gave Alejandro orange juice laced with liquor, assaulted him, and performed oral sex on him.

The archdiocese “knew or should have known” that O’Farrill “sexually abused other boys” but “took no action against (him) and continued to give him unfettered access to young boys,” according to the suit. “In accordance with (long standing church) polices, practices and procedures, O’Farrill was (repeatedly) transferred and reassigned … for the purpose of concealing his sexual abuse of minors,” the suit says.

It specifically cites Father Gerard LaCerra as a church official who “destroyed, concealed and altered documents which would have (shown) that the archdiocese’s wrongful conduct” caused the victim’s injuries. The archdiocese “had a policy of concealment” in child sexual cases, the suit maintains..

The lawsuit was filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court early Wednesday morning. Copies will be available at the media event.

CONTACT
Jeff Herman 305 931 2200, 305 409 7371 cell, jherman@hermanlaw.com
Jessica Arbour 305 931 2200, 305 318 5444 cell, jarbour@hermanlaw.com
Barbara Blaine of SNAP 312 399 4747 cell, snapblaine@gmail.com