Las Vegas priest pleads not guilty to sexual assault

[brooklynite]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he beat and sexually assaulted a woman at a parish office, and his attorneys said they intend to show the woman and their client had a close relationship.

No bail was set for the Rev. George Chaanine, 52, who has been jailed since his arrest February 1 near Phoenix after nearly a week on the run. He faces life in prison if convicted of attempted murder, sexual assault and other felonies.

Chaanine's accuser, a 54-year-old former Las Vegas Strip singer and church employee, said the priest hit her in the head with a wine bottle, groped and choked her. When she began praying, he suddenly stopped and fled.

In a hearing last month where Chaanine was bound over for trial, the woman and her daughter testified Chaanine seemed obsessed with wooing her.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/03/15/priest.assault.ap/index.html

Well, at least he wasn't a homosexual...that would be immoral

[Warpy]

1. Yeah, besides, she's only a woman

Plus, she's an old woman with a racy past. That means she asked for it, you know, and all women find a celibate priest an irresistible challenge. The poor man is only human!

For the slow, :sarcasm: