UPDATED::Philadelphia priest under investigation for alleged misconduct with a minor - Philly

UPDATE::  Philadelphia priest charged with rape, sexual abuse of minor

A priest from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been arrested and charged with rape and sexual abuse of a minor.

Armand Garcia, 49, was pastor at Saint Martin of Tours in Oxford Circle, but his alleged crime took place in 2014 while he was at the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Roxborough.


Garcia was placed on administrative leave a year ago when the police investigation began.

The investigation began in 2018 with allegations Garcia abused a teenage girl between 2014 and 2017.

The pastor of a Northeast Philadelphia Catholic parish has been placed on administrative leave while police investigate a report of alleged misconduct with a minor, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Sunday.

The Rev. Armand Garcia, formerly of St. Martin of Tours parish in the city’s Summerdale section, was removed from his post March 16 – the same day that investigators executed a search warrant on the parish rectory, said Kenneth Gavin, chief communications officer for the archdiocese.

Parishioners were informed of Garcia’s leave and the circumstances behind it last weekend. But details of the investigation remained sparse more than a week later.

Philadelphia priest under investigation for alleged misconduct with a minor - Philly