Bangor Priest Appears in Court on Child Porn Charges

By John Krinjak
WABI
September 17, 2014

http://wabi.tv/2014/09/17/bangor-priest-appears-court-child-porn-charges/

A Bangor priest accused of possessing child pornography made his first court appearance Wednesday.

We also learned that he may also have had sexual contact with children in Bangor.

52-year-old Adam Metropoulos has been suspended from his duties at St. George Greek Orthodox Church after his arrest this week on child porn and violation of privacy charges.

The investigation began after a woman told police she was photographed while taking a shower at the priest’s home.

Penobscot County Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts says they found child porn on a computer in the home and Metropoulos also admitted to having sexual contact with children in Bangor.

“During the context of this investigation, when the police interviewed him, he acknowledged that a few years ago he had touched a couple of teenaged boys,” said Roberts.

This is in addition to a prior sexual assault conviction 31 years ago.

“We don’t really know at this point what happened in Michigan other than that he had a conviction there. We’re going to attempt to learn what the circumstances are to see if they fall in line with the same type of contact he was engaged in here,” said Roberts.

Local church officials say they never saw this coming.

“It was total blind side, had no–you always watch those stupid shows like Cops or something. They always say, the neighbors, ‘Oh we had no idea.’ There’s no way you saw this. There’s absolutely no way,” said Lee Speronis, Parish Council president at St George.

In a statement, church leadership in Boston tell us, “The Metropolis shares the pain and embarrassment during the difficult time and the church takes seriously all allegations of sexual misconduct.”

The local church council met Tuesday night to discuss a way forward.

“We were very unified in our stance, very unified in our support of the Metropolitan’s decision which was an immediate suspension of the father that took place, and that will last all through the criminal outcome, and then he has to deal with the ecclesiastical court, and it’s in god’s hands,” said Speronis.

Metropoulos’s bail has been set at $100,000. Prosecutors say it’s important he stays locked up for the time being.

“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,” said Speronis.