Priest Charged in Domestic Incident

By Libor Jany
News Times
August 28, 2012

http://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Priest-arrested-for-domestic-violence-3820704.php

A Greek Orthodox priest was arrested last week for striking his wife's live-in aide because he was put off by the smell of her cooking, police said.

The Rev. Eleftherios Stavrakis, of Littlefield Road, was charged with disorderly conduct and domestic violence, according to New Milford police spokesman Lt. Larry Ash.

Under state law, a person is guilty of domestic violence if it is determined he or she physically abused a "family or household member or person in dating relationship."

Stavrakis was released on $10,000 bond and arraigned Monday at state Superior Court in Bantam.

The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, police said.

According to police, Stavrakis, 73, flew into a fit of anger and repeatedly struck the 58-year-old aide in the face with his hand. Police say her injuries were minor.

What set off his tirade?

"Apparently, she was cooking, and he didn't care for the odor of the cooking," Ash said Tuesday.

Ash said he did not know the aide's employment status.

Stavrakis' arrest was not his first brush with the law.

In 1988, he was found guilty of trying to bribe an undercover Internal Revenue Service agent to avoid paying taxes. At the time he was the pastor of St. Gerasimos Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side.