Catholic priest accused of stealing millions to pay for ‘rent boy lover’
The priest is also accused of stealing cash to pay for a hot tub, drugs and sex toys.
A lawsuit has been filed against Rev. Peter Miqueli, accusing the pastor of stealing over $1 million in donations to support and pay for sex with his gay lover.
The lawsuit was filed at the Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday by incensed parishioners accusing Miqueli of taking from the donation plate at the Churches were he worked.
The papers allege that the priest had a long running S&M romance with Keith Crist – who forced the priest to refer to him as ‘master’ and drink his urine.
In addition to paying $1000 a time for ‘bondage and discipline’ sex sessions, Miqueli allegedly also paid the rent on Crist’s East Harlem apartment, according to the New York Post.
According to the Archdiocese’s rules, all donations should be placed in locked bags, stored safely and counted by a trusted parishioner before being placed into the church bank account.
Instead, Miqueli supposedly placed the money into unlocked bags, which he kept and counted himself in his bedroom – sometimes leaving foot high stacks of it laying around.
The priest even hired his paid lover to work for him as the parishes’ new business manager – only for him to be sacked by the Archdiocese following a complaint.
Lawyer Michael Dowd – who is representing the two parishes’ claims the allegations go back over ten years – claims that the church knew about the theft all along.
“It is unbelievable that the diocese can’t come to a conclusion about the misconduct of Miqueli when there is money missing that may be a million dollars from each (parish)”.
Bronx parishioner Jack Lynch told New York Daily News he believes the church is “going out of their way to protect him and for years. We suspect a scandal behind the scandal”.
The Church itself has yet to discipline the priest, causing outrage among parishioners. They have since created a website, a Facebook page and hand out flyers all in the hopes of having the accused sacked.
“I have stopped going. No one likes him, and it really has torn apart the parish. People have had confrontations with him over the collections and the money,” one former church goer said.
“It’s sad that one person can destroy what was a great community with their greed and their actions”.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese said they’re taking the allegations seriously and have ordered an audit of the parish.
