Crime & Safety
Springfield Priest Arrested, Charged With Sexual Assault of Adult Male
Father Luis Fernando Franco Henao no longer works at St. Bernadette Parish in Springfield, and turned himself in on Dec. 19.
A priest from a Springfield Catholic Church and School turned himself in to police after being accused of sexually abusing a 29-year-old male. Father Luis Fernando Franco Henao was charged with sexual battery of an adult male, after the victim reported that he was sexually assaulted at St. Bernadette Parish in February.
The victim reported the incident to Fairfax County Police on Nov. 30 - nine months after the fact. The victim alleges that the 40-year-old Franco assaulted him "while seeking support and guidance from the suspect when the suspect allegedly touched him inappropriately," according to Fairfax County Police.
Henao was charged with sexual battery, "and that implies that he was touched in a place where you're not supposed to be touched, and on a man there are only two places that will be," said Fairfax County Police spokesman Eddy Azcarate.
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Franco moved to St. Bernadette's in 2010 from a church in Columbia, and is no longer an employee of the St. Bernadette Parish or elementary school, according to ABC7.
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