Priest Charged with Sex Abuse Working on a Plea Deal

NBC 4
September 25, 2012

www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/sep/25/priest-charged-sex-abuse-working-plea-deal-ar-1185175/

Father Nicholas Hughes

[with video]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Bishop Andonis with the Archdiocese of New York says Father Nicholas Hughes will not fight the sex abuse charges against him and is working on a plea deal.

Hughes has been the interim priest for the past year at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in the Short North.

He was arrested on Sept. 19 by the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children task force for soliciting sex over the internet.

Investigators say the 56-year-old thought he was chatting with the parents of a 9-year-old and 14-year-old boy.

Hughes is currently being held in the Franklin County Jail on charges of attempted rape and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

Members of Surviviors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) passed out fliers at noon in front of the Greek Orthodox Church in Columbus Tuesday. They want church officials to make public every location Father Hughes has worked.

NBC4 called the Archdiocese of New York for the locations and the allegations against Father Hughes. Bishop Andonis says Hughes has served in Columbus, Mansfield, Galion, and the Metropolis of Detroit.

Andonis says Hughes has been a priest since 1987. The Archdiocese does not have any record of abuse by Father Hughes in the past.

If Hughes is found guilty of the charges against him, Andonis says there will be a spiritual decree and he could be defrocked and removed from the list of priests.