Santiago fired as executive director of Concilio

NOTE: THIS STORY HAS BEEN REVISED.

Roberto R. Santiago, a fixture in the Latino community as head of the social-service agency Concilio, was fired Friday morning after a Daily News report revealed he was under investigation for alleged child molestation.

The allegations came months after Santiago, 51, was suspended from his executive-director position while police and the agency investigated sexual allegations lodged by a female employee.

The investigation found no wrongdoing by Santiago.

In recent weeks, two sisters stepped forward to file police reports alleging that Santiago, their former stepfather, had molested them in the 1980s, when they were young. They said they had been prompted to report the alleged abuse after because they read about the employee's allegation about Santiago.

The women, now in their 30s, are Philadelphia police officers.

Melinda Tavarez, one of the sisters, called the news of Santiago's firing "great" and "appropriate."

Multiple sources associated with Concilio confirmed Santiago was fired on Friday morning, but the head of the board of directors refused yesterday to specify how Santiago and Concilio parted ways.

Concilio's board president, Tony Valdes, said that effective last Friday, Santiago "is no longer employed at Concilio." He had been with the agency since 1996.

Valdes said he couldn't be specific because "the details have not been settled."

But "once that [agreement] has been finalized, we will release a statement no later than next week," he said.

Efforts to reach Santiago were not successful, but there was evidence he is standing up for himself. In an e-mail to friends and supporters, Santiago denied the child-molestation allegations, saying they were "not true," according to a recipient of the letter.

Santiago explains "what he believes is going on" with the allegations, said the supporter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He declined to elaborate about Santiago's explanation, adding it was a "delicate" situation.

So delicate, some say, that the controversy swirling around Santiago could threaten funding and future sponsorship.

But Valdes denied such a scenario. "The relationship between Concilio and its sponsors remains strong. I think they trust the organization."

A couple of Concilio sponsors contacted yesterday appeared to agree.

"They're a great organization," said Judy Harrington, senior vice president for business development at Health Partners Foundation. "As long as they're doing good work in the community, we would continue to work with them on serving the community."

Ben Armstrong, a spokesman for Peco Energy, said the company assesses agencies on whether they can "provide essential services or significant benefits to our customers and the communities we serve."

"We will continue to evaluate Concilio and all other organizations seeking support in this same way," Armstrong said.

The high-profile strife comes at the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, usually a bustling time for Concilio, which organizes numerous community events.

Its annual Puerto Rican Festival Awards Gala will still be held Saturday night at Penn's Landing. Late yesterday afternoon, Valdes announced that the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, which was short of funds earlier this week, would take place after all.

Still, Melinda Tavarez said, the agency has to take at least one lesson from Santiago's tenure as executive director.

"He's a misrepresentation of a lot of the programs offered by Concilio," said Tavarez, 32. The nonprofit funds programs focused on toddlers and adolescents, such as a teen sexual-abstinence program, parenting-skills training and youth summer camp.

"I hope that in the future that whoever they pick, they do a thorough background check on him or her."

Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, who has called Santiago a close friend, called the case and Santiago's departure "an unfortunate situation."

"Roberto has to defend himself. My thoughts are with his family and with the victims," Quinones-Sanchez said. "My priority is Concilio and the Puerto Rican Parade."