ME- Priest charged with child pornography; he was convicted in Michigan
For immediate release: Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Statement by Melanie Jula Sakoda of Moraga,CA, Orthodox Christian Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (925-708-6175, [email protected]om)
A former Brookline, MA seminarian, who was convicted of a sex crime in Michigan in 1983, has been arrested again in Maine and accused of possessing child pornography.
Father Adam Metropoulos has been charged with possessing child pornography and photographing a woman without her permission.
The clergyman was suspended “from all priestly duties” by his bishop yesterday. However, Metropoulos had been employed by Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Bangor, Maine, from September 2001, until yesterday.
Before attending Holy Cross Seminary, Metropoulos worked as a high school chemistry teacher in Maine from 1990-1997.
We urge church officials to use their positions to reach out to the Greek communities in Bangor and Brookline and beg anyone who experienced, witnessed or suspected Metropoulos of sex crimes to contact the police.
We also urge the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the jurisdiction to which Saint George belongs, immediately open an investigation into how someone with a prior sex offense was allowed to both enroll in seminary and obtain a position of authority in the Church.
In 2012, a married Brookline seminarian with a history of drug abuse was expelled shortly before graduation following accusations that he had given drugs to and sexually abused the teen-aged daughter of a Greek priest who had been hired to babysit his children.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, d[email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
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