Marblehead Priest Charged with Sexual Assault, by Marc Fortier and Ryan O'Connor, The Patch, July 7, 2011

Marblehead Priest Charged with Sexual Assault

By Marc Fortier and Ryan O'Connor
The Patch
July 7, 2011

http://marblehead.patch.com/articles/marblehead-priest-charged-with-sexual-assault

A Marblehead priest who allegedly worked at St. Michael's Episcopal Church earlier this year has been charged with felonious sexual assault after a five-month investigation, police in New Hampshire told WMUR-TV today.

Franklin Huntress, 78, of Marblehead, was arrested in town on June 30 and extradited to New Hampshire as a fugitive from justice, Police Chief Robert Picariello said.

"We had very little to do with this arrest, other than helping some police from New Hampshire take him in," Picariello said. "That kind of thing happens on a fairly regular basis."

Huntress was arraigned Wednesday in Hillsborough County Superior Court, and is being held on $25,000 bail, WMUR reported.

Police haven’t said what the Bedford, N.H., connection to the case is. According to published reports, Huntress at one point served a church in Manchester, N.H.

Bedford Police Capt. Daniel Doidi referred all questions about the case to Detective Matt Fleming, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

Efforts to reach the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire were also unsuccessful.

Back in February, the Boston Globe reported Huntress was removed from the priesthood after allegations surfaced that he had abused a minor in 1974. The Globe story also said Huntress had been arrested in 1994 on accusations of sexually abusing a minor while he was serving at a church in England.

Huntress retired in 1995, according to the Globe, but had been working until February at the Church of the Holy Name in Swampscott, and St. Michael’s Church in Marblehead. Huntress had previously served at St. Paul’s Episcopal Parish in Malden, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in New Bedford, All Saints in Dorchester, and Church of the Advent in Beacon Hill.