Text size: increase text sizedecrease text size

Archdiocese of Miami acknowledges secret settlements in abuse cases

MIAMI - The Archdiocese of Miami secretly paid several men to settle sexual abuse allegations against a Roman Catholic priest, church officials acknowledged.

Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said church leaders promptly removed the priest and followed church guidelines for dealing with the allegations. She declined to say more because the settlements were confidential.

A lawyer in two of the cases identified the priest as the Rev. Joseph Cinesi.

"People should know that these things are going on, and I'm glad that the shroud of secrecy is unraveling," lawyer Russell S. Adler said.

Adler said he represented two men who won settlements in the late 1990s for incidents when Cinesi was at St. Jerome Catholic Church in Fort Lauderdale.

Both men were over 18 at the time of the abuse, Adler said.

Cinesi stepped down from St. Maurice Catholic Church in Broward County in August 1999, saying he wanted to fight false allegations.

The archdiocese said he could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Another lawyer, Ellis Rubin, said he handled three settlements with the archdiocese for men who were molested as boys. He would not name the accused priest because of confidentiality agreements.

Related topic galleries: Broward County, Religious Leaders, Lawyers, Sexual Assault, Fort Lauderdale, Roman Catholic, Christianity

Get home delivery of The Sun and save over 50% off the newsstand price

Fatal medevac crash
Four people died and another was seriously injured when a medevac helicopter crashed in a Prince George's County park. Photos

Archived coverage:
Ex-councilman Harris killed | Md. police spying
City Hall, Dixon investigated | CEG sold for $4.7B

A roundup of crimes reported in Baltimore City and Baltimore County


Watchdog archive

Watchdog archive

Is there something in your neighborhood that's not getting fixed? Tell us where the problem is and how long its been there.

Maryland Scenes

Maryland Scenes

Stories about interesting people and goings-on across the state

Area farmers' markets
An interactive map featuring locations, times, photos and other coverage of farmers' markets across the area.

My Maryland
Submit photos from around the state and view those from other readers
Also see: Charm Cityscapes



Reader videos | Talk forums | Trivia quizzes