MIAMI – Priest Jean-Claude Jean-Philippe was arrested after being accused of drugging and sexually abusing a parishioner in Homestead, South Florida, local media reported Saturday.
The 64-year-old priest left the Miami-Dade County Jail Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he was admitted after his arrest Friday, after paying $ 10,000 bail, reports Local10.
Jean-Philippe, vicar of Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Sacred Heart), and from which he has been removed by the Archdiocese of Miami, was accused by a parishioner whose wedding was even officiated by the detainee.
According to the police report, last October the priest invited the woman to his residence located within the perimeter of the church, in the southwest of the county, where after drinking a tea that Jean-Philippe offered he lost consciousness.
Two hours later, the woman, according to the testimony she offered to the police, woke naked in the bed of the priest, who was standing near her and only wore underwear. When questioned by the victim, the priest denied having abused her.
The woman, whose identity has not been released, did not say anything until months later, when she told the incident to another religious.
The archdiocese of Miami, which on Saturday issued a statement in which it announced that the priest has also been placed on “administrative license”, was notified of the incident on March 4 and instructed the woman to make a police report .
Jean-Philippe confessed to the agents that he undressed the woman, massaged her with oils and sexually abused her. (EFEUSA)
