AH Priest Removed After Arrest For Sex Act In Car In Miami Beach

MIAMI BEACH, FL — Two Arlington Heights priests were arrested Labor Day in Miami Beach after police caught them allegedly performing oral sex in a parked rental car in public view, according to the Miami Beach Patch. Diego Berrio, 39, and Edwin Giraldo-Cortez, 30, were charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, and Giraldo-Cortez also faces a count of indecent exposure stemming from the incident.

Miami Beach police received a 911 call at about 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 3, concerning two men engaged in a sex act in a black Volkswagen in the 1300 block of Ocean Drive. When an officer arrived at the scene, he could see Giraldo-Cortez sitting in the driver's seat with his pants undone and genitals exposed, allegedly receiving oral sex from Berrio, who was seated on the passenger side.

“This act was occurring in full view of the public passing by on Ocean Drive and the sidewalk,” the officer wrote in his arrest report, noting that the rental car did not have tinted windows. (Get Patch real-time email alerts and daily newsletters for Arlington Heights.)

During their arrests, Berrio and Giraldo-Cortez stated they were priests, and they listed the Misión San Juan Diego, 2323 N. Wilke Road, as their address. Anne Maselli, an Archdiocese of Chicago spokeswoman, identified Cortes as an "extern priest" from Soacha, Colombia, who served in Chicago's St. Aloysius Parish in August.

"Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, has removed Father Berrio from ministry and withdrawn his faculties to minister in the Archdiocese of Chicago, effective immediately," Maselli told Patch. "The archdiocese will appoint an administrator for the Misión San Juan Diego as soon as possible."

Both men were still in jail as of Tuesday afternoon. Giraldo-Cortez's bail was set at $1,500, and Berrio was ordered held on $250 bail, according to the Miami-Dade County Corrections & Rehabilitation Department.

Edwin Giraldo-Cortez (left) and Diego Berrio (Photos via Miami-Dade County Corrections & Rehabilitation Department)