Monsignor Michael Cherup, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Fort Walton Beach, has been removed by the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged sexual abuse.
Parishioners were notified over the weekend.
On July 19, the Diocese was notified that alleged victim accused Cherup of abusing them in 1993. At the time, Cherup was assigned to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pensacola and the victim was 15 years old.
The Diocese encouraged the victim to notify police and then reported the allegation to the State Attorney’s Office.
Following its own investigation, the Diocese removed Cherup of his duties on Thursday.
In 1998, the Diocese was rocked when its former bishop, Keith Symons resigned as the bishop of Palm Beach, Fla., after he admitted to having sexually molested five boys early in his priesthood. Symons had been the bishop of the Pensacola-Tallahassee from 1983–1990.
Bishop John Ricard apologized in a 2003 letter to diocese members for failing to respond promptly to complaints of child abuse by priests. He wrote that six priests in the diocese had been removed over a 28-year period because of sexual abuse allegations.
In 2005, a 49-year-old man sued the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee and retired Monsignor Richard Bowles, longtime pastor of St. Michael’s in downtown Pensacola, saying that 34 years ago, when he was 15, the priest tried to molest him in a Georgia motel room.
The Database of Publicly Accused Priests in the United States has a list of the priests associated with the Diocese that have been accused of sexual abuse. Check link.
