Priest arrested in Las Vegas church sex attack
Pastor Dale Morgan
Priest arrested in Las Vegas church sex attack*
POSTED: 0225 GMT (1025 HKT), February 1, 2007
Story Highlights
• FBI: Priest arrested without incident near Phoenix
• Victim says he attacked her, choked her
• Warrant charges him with attempted murder, sexual assault
• Bishop say he is relieved Chaanine was found
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest who is accused of
beating, sexually groping and choking a soloist at his Las Vegas church
was arrested Thursday in Arizona, authorities said.
The Rev. George Chaanine, 52, was taken into custody in Apache Junction,
about 30 miles east of Phoenix, said Deb McCarley, a spokeswoman for the
Phoenix office of the FBI.
Chaanine had been a fugitive since the alleged assault on January 26 at
the Our Lady of Las Vegas parish office.
A judge issued a felony warrant Tuesday charging him with attempted
murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and battery with a deadly weapon.
McCarley said Arizona authorities located Chaanine after receiving
information from agents in Las Vegas.
"He was stopped, he was taken into custody without incident, he did not
give chase," McCarley said.
According to a Las Vegas police report obtained Thursday by The
Associated Press, the woman, who works at the parish office, told
investigators she was sitting at her desk when Chaanine broke a full
bottle of wine over her head, grabbed her hair and dragged her down a
hall toward his office.
She fought back, lost consciousness and awoke with Chaanine groping her
breasts and genitals, police said. She continued fighting until Chaanine
straddled her and grabbed her throat, police said.
The woman told detectives she began to pray for her life before her
attacker suddenly stopped. He muttered that he was going to kill
himself, told the woman to wait 15 minutes, said he would call an
ambulance and left the parish office, according to the police report.
Chaanine has been suspended with pay from his position as church
administrative pastor.
In a statement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas, Bishop
Joseph Pepe praised authorities for finding Chaanine.
"We are relieved that Father Chaanine has been found and now justice can
be served through the legal process," Pepe said. "We have worked closely
with the authorities and are hopeful that the information we provided
proved helpful."
Chaanine, a native of Lebanon, was ordained in 1996 and worked at
churches in Detroit, Michigan; Youngstown, Ohio; El Paso, Texas; and
Wheeling, West Virginia, before beginning work at Our Lady of Las Vegas
in 2004, the diocese said.