HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A former altar boy sued the Vatican, the Miami Archdiocese and two Roman Catholic priests Monday, saying he was forced to participate in orgies as a teen-ager 30 years ago.
Jose Albino Currais Jr. said the Revs. Ricardo Castellanos and Alvaro Guichard held orgies at the Church of the Little Flower in Miami in which they had sex with numerous teen-age boys.
Currais, 45, also said Castellanos operated a teen prostitution ring, arranging for Currais and other boys to have sex with visiting seminarians from Rome.
The abuse occurred from 1971 to about 1974, Currais said. His suit, seeking unspecified damages, was filed in state court in Fort Lauderdale.
"I didn't want to be here, I don't want to be here. I am here to stop this from happening to other kids," Currais said at a news conference at his attorney's office.
Mary Ross Agosta, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Monday she could not comment on the allegations because the archdiocese had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit.
Guichard, pastor of St. Francis de Sales parish in Miami Beach, denies the charges, said his attorney, Manuel Garcia-Linares. He declined further comment.
Castellanos serves as pastor of San Isidro Church in Pompano Beach. The person who answered the phone there Monday said he also was not available for comment.
Guichard, Castellanos and the archdiocese also were sued last month by a family who alleged the two priests sexually abused their late son more than two decades ago.
In that lawsuit, the family of Miguel Chinchilla, who died in 1993, say he was abused from 1974 to 1977. They also allege the archdiocese pressed him to recant allegations against Castellanos when he confronted church officials in 1988.
The archdiocese has denied the family's charges.
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