MIAMI (WSVN) - Jury selection is underway in the trial of a South Florida Catholic priest accused of sexual battery.
Father Jean Claude Jean-Philippe appeared before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Carmen Cabarga, Monday.
The defendant, who was a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Homestead, faces a charge of sexual battery of an incapacitated victim.
According to a statement from the Archdiocese of Miami, they received a complaint about inappropriate behavior by Jean-Philippe on March 4, 2019.
Archdiocese officials met with the victim, a parishioner at the church, who told them the incident happened in October of 2018. They advised her to report the incident to police.
Investigators said the defendant, who was 64 at the time of his arrest, drugged and sexually assaulted the victim at the church, located near Southeast First Drive and Second Road.
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