MIAMI (WSVN) - A priest is now a convicted sex offender.
“I sentence you to 94.5 months,” said Judge Carmen R. Carbaga.
The South Florida priest was sentenced Thursday to almost eight years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a parishioner.
Jean Claude Jean-Philippe, 66, of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Homestead, was charged with sexual battery back in 2019.
In 2021 an all-female jury found he was guilty of the felony.
“It’s very difficult for me to be here,” said the victim.
With the help of a translator, the victim, who is not being identified, took the stand to confront the religious leader, Thursday.
“This situation changed my life upside down,” said the victim.
Fighting through the tears, she expressed the pain Jean-Philippe caused her and her family.
“It’s very difficult to see now the person that I respected so much, that I trusted so much, and see how much he has harmed my life,” said the victim.
Right before the judge’s decision, Jean-Philippe also chose to speak.
“So then I asked God, ‘I don’t know why I’m going through this experience,’ and I know the devil is real, I know the devil is powerful, but he won’t change me. He won’t change my life,” said Jean-Philippe.
The Archidocese of Miami put out a statement that reads: “The Archdiocese of Miami deeply regrets the harm perpetrated by this priest, which extends not only to the survivor of this assault and her family but to the parishioners, to priests of integrity and to the entire community of faith.”
“They had absolutely no evidence,” said the priest’s attorney.
The priest’s attorney said they will appeal this decision.
“She’s extremely brave,” said Elizabeth Parker, the victim’s attorney.
As for the victim, her attorney said she finally has some sense of closure.
“I’m at peace. I did what I needed to do. I can close this chapter today,” said the victim.
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