Retired priest charged with taking indecent liberties with a child in 2003

By Rachel Siegel
WashingtPost
July 27, 2017

https://goo.gl/vCpSGU

A retired priest was arrested in Fairfax County on Wednesday and accused of inappropriately touching a teenage girl nearly 15 years ago.

Gervase Cain, now 86, is alleged to have had the contact with the 15-year-old girl during a consultation at her home in Fairfax in 2003, police said Thursday.

The case was initially reported in 2004, though the complaint was later withdrawn, police said. They said the complaint was reopened in May and a warrant was issued July 17. Cain, who resides in Loretto, Pa., turned himself in Wednesday after learning of the warrant, police said.

Cain was charged with taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial or supervisory relationship.

According to a spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Police Department, Cain is no longer being held. A spokeswoman from the sheriff’s office said Cain was bonded out before being booked, though it was unclear how much the bond was for.

Cain taught philosophy at St. Francis University — a Catholic liberal arts college in Loretto — for 20 years, according to the university’s website. He served as executive vice president of the university from 1976 to 1983, according to the website. St. Francis University is conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular.

According to the Arlington Catholic Herald, the Third Order Regular of St. Francis Fathers assumed responsibility of the Luray parish in Virginia in 1992, with Cain serving as its first pastor.

A message left at St. Francis University was not returned Thursday afternoon.