A priest at Saint Thomas Church in Midtown has been placed on administrative leave by the Episcopal Diocese of New York while the church investigates allegations of sexual assault detailed in a lawsuit filed this month by a parishioner.

A J.P. Morgan loan officer filed the lawsuit against the Episcopal Diocese of New York and Saint Thomas Church on West 53rd and 5th Avenue, alleging that clergy and staff sexually assaulted him — and that when he spoke up, church leadership retaliated by portraying him as a violent threat to parishioners and even contacting his employer.

The lawsuit, filed in New York County Supreme Court on Sept. 8, details a series of alleged incidents beginning in late 2024, when 31-year-old Andrew Westphal of Westchester County had been regularly attending services an

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