A chaplain with the NYPD was arrested after hiring a sex worker in the Bronx, according to police.
Father Michael Eguino was arrested Friday morning and charged with soliciting prostitution, police said. The 40-year-old was arrested less than 20 minutes away from his church, on East Gun Hill Road, sources told NBC New York.
Eguino was ordained a priest in 2015 and was appointed a chaplain in the NYPD in Aug. 2021, according the unit’s website. He is a pastor at the Church of St.Anselm & St.Roch on Tinton Avenue in the Woodstock neighborhood, the NYPD chaplain unit’s page stated, and was a spiritual director for the department’s Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island Holy Name Society.
A young man who said he worked for the church but did not wish to be identified said he was shocked by the news of the pastor’s arrest and that Eguino had offered him a job when he most needed one.
Eguino was issued a desk appearance ticket and will have to appear before a judge in a Bronx courthouse, law enforcement sources said.
The priest did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Archdiocese of New York.
NYPD chaplains provide spiritual and emotional support to officers and their families and also help conduct religious ceremonies like funerals and memorial services.
