A pastor at Franklin's St. Philip Catholic Church has been indicted on sex crimes by a Williamson County Grand Jury following an internal investigation that saw him removed from his position in January.
As previously reported, the Diocese of Nashville announced the investigation into allegations of “sexual misconduct” by associate pastor Juan Carlos Garcia, who has now been charged with one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, one count of aggravated sexual battery, four counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and two counts of sexual battery.
Few details have been released, but according to court documents the alleged crimes occurred between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2023, in Franklin.
The grand jury indictment lists five victims, four of whom were children between the ages of 11 and 16 years old when the alleged abuse occurred.
Garcia was ordained in 2020 and assigned to St. Philip in July 2022, having previously served at Saint Rose of Lima in Murfreesboro.
In November 2023, a complaint was made by church officials to the Diocese of Nashville Safe Environment Office after an unidentified teenager in the parish "made a report of improper touching."
"Per diocesan protocols, a report was immediately made by the Diocese and St. Philip representatives to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS)," the diocese said in a January news release.
"Pursuant to the Diocesan Safe Environment Policy, an outside investigator, who is a former FBI agent, was retained by the Diocese to investigate the report."
Anyone with information regarding Father Garcia is urged to contact detective Andrea Clark of the Franklin Police Department at 615-476-2809. Information about reporting abuse and the victim assistance program in the church is available online here.