Msgr. Otto L. Garcia: Diocesan Clergy Accused of Sexual Misconduct With a Minor

Msgr. Otto L. Garcia

Ordained: 1973
Assignments:
  • 1974-1975 St. Michael Church, Flushing, NY (BRK)
  • 1976-1978 On Duty Outside the Diocese, Graduate Studies, North American College, Casa Santa Maria, Rome (BRK)
  • 1979-1981 St. John the Evangelist, Brooklyn, NY (BRK)
  • 1982-1983 Vice-Chancellor (BRK)
  • 1984 Unknown
  • 1985-1999 Chancellor (BRK)
  • 1982-1999 Special Assignment, P.O. Box C, Brooklyn, NY 11202 (BRK)
  • 1993-2006 The Cathedral-Basilica of St. James, Brooklyn, NY (BRK)
  • 2002-2003 Vicar General (BRK)
  • 2004-2006 Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia; Presbyteral Council; Diocesan Consultors (BRK)
  • 2007-2018 St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights, NY (BRK)
  • 2010-2014 Diocesan Judges, Brooklyn, NY (BRK)
  • 2012-2018 Attorneys and Counselors at Canon Law, Jackson Heights, NY (BRK)
  • 2019 Unknown

Msgr. Otto Garcia was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn. In his capacity as Chancellor and Vicar General of the Diocese of Brooklyn, Fr. Garcia oversaw and allegedly concealed acts of child sexual abuse prior to allegations surfacing that he abused at least two minor boys in the 1970s. In 2017, Thomas Davis reported to the Diocese of Brooklyn that Msgr. Garcia had sexually abused him when he was a minor boy from approximately 1973 to 1975 at St. Michael’s in Flushing, New York. The survivor was questioned by a diocesan lawyer and private investigator and was informed that there was“insufficient support” for his claim. On August 14, 2019 Davis filed a lawsuit against the Diocese and Msgr. Garcia under the New York Child Victims Act. A second lawsuit was filed the same day by another survivor who alleges Msgr. Garcia sexually abused him as a minor boy in approximately 1973 and 1974 at St. Michael’s in Flushing, New York. Msgr. Garcia was quietly removed from St. Joan of Arc in Jackson Heights, New York sometime in 2019. Msgr. Garcia was named on the Diocese of Brooklyn’s 2019 “List of Diocesan Clergy for Whom the Diocese Received allegations of Sexual Misconduct with a Minor,” in the subsection “Priests Against Whom Allegations Have Been Made That Are Not Listed Above.” According to the list, the Diocese’s internal Review Board deemed the allegation to be unsubstantiated. Msgr. Garcia’s  urrent status as a priest, whereabouts, and whether he has access to children are unknown. Msgr. Garcia is listed as the Parochial Vicar according to the September 1, 2019 bulletin of the Church of St. Teresa in Woodside, New York.