Affidavit: Priest admits to touching boys

By Grady Trimble
WCSH
September 17, 2014

http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/bangor/2014/09/17/affidavit-priest-admits-to-touching-boys/15797529/

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Father Adam Metropoulos of St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bangor admitted to investigators that he inappropriately touched two teenage boys five years ago at his home. He also admitted to recording two women showering at his home over the years. This information is from a police affidavit filed in the case.

According to one police officer's statement, "Mr. Metropoulos told me that while the boys were sleeping, he felt both of them in the genital areas..."

Metropoulos was arrested Saturday for allegedly recording a woman in the shower. He is charged with violation of privacy and possession of child pornography, which police said they seized after searching his computers.

Metropoulos' bail is set at $100,000 cash. Bail conditions include that Metropoulos is not to have contact with children under 18 and he is not to use or possess any devices that can access the internet. He will be subject to random searches for internet devices.

The Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts said it is too early to tell if he will face any other charges.

"If he's somebody who's a predator, who's used his position in the church to gain the trust of children and parents and families to engage in this conduct, that's just horrific," Roberts said. "If he's somebody who's got issues of his own and has made a mistake here, but isn't necessarily a predator, that's a completely different situation, but we have to err on the side of caution and assume, given his history, particularly with an earlier conviction, that this may be a predator that we need to take very seriously."

Metropoulos does have a criminal past. He was convicted of a sex crime in Michigan in 1983.

The Greek Archdiocese said it conducted a criminal background check on Father Metropolouos only in the states of Maine and Massachusetts when he was ordained in 2000, so the Michigan conviction didn't show up. They have since switched to a national background check.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has suspended Father Metropoulos indefinitely. He will also have to go through their ecclesiastical court to determine his status with the church.