MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A Miami Beach priest suspended for 15 months for sexually abusing two altar boys got a hero's congregational welcome Sunday.
The allegations against Alvaro Guichard date back to the 1970s. He returned to his altar at St. Francis de Sales Church for mass to a standing ovation, said Mary Ross Agosta, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese in Miami. Standing beside him was Archbishop John Favalora, the Miami Herald reported.
In a letter to church parishioners, Favalora said the Miami-Dade state attorney's office has informed the archdiocese in writing that no criminal charges would be filed against Guichard.
Favalora said the archdiocese's own internal review team has "rendered a positive recommendation to me for Father's reinstatement."
The archbishop said he was aware that civil lawsuits filed against Guichard were still pending.
Reached late Saturday, state attorney's office spokesman Ed Griffith said he didn't know prosecutors had dropped their probe of the priest.
