New York police have arrested a Catholic missionary priest from Kenya on charges of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy.
Peter Kiare (41) a native of Kenya, was arrested on Tuesday in the Queens section of the city where he had been working as a guest preacher at a Roman Catholic Church, a police representative said.
Kiare faces charges of sex abuse, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child during an excursion to Rockaway beach on June 16 — Father’s Day.
He faces a maximum of one year in prison if convicted.
Church officials were quick to point out that Kiare was only a guest of the Queens parish and had not been officially assigned to the church where he preached.
The US branch of the Catholic Church has been besieged by an avalanche of allegations of predatory sexual behaviour by priests, prompting Pope John Paul II to convene an emergency meeting of his US cardinals in May.
Kiare is the third priest arrested in just over a month in the diocese of Brooklyn, which includes the borough of Queens.
Last week, a visiting priest from Nigeria was arrested in Texas for allegedly raping a woman in Brooklyn two years ago.
In May, a priest from India was arrested and charged with molesting a 12-year-old girl at her home in Brooklyn three years ago. – Sapa-AFP