Bishop pleads guilty to groping

He faces up to a year in jail

TRAVERSE CITY – Bishop Demetri Khoury doesn’t remember getting drunk at Turtle Creek Casino last July and groping a woman’s breast.

Khoury, who oversees the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in eight states and Ontario, said he only realized his crime after he saw it on video.

Khoury, 55, had been scheduled to stand trial today on a charge of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

“Based on what I saw on the tape, I plead guilty,” Khoury told Circuit Court Judge Philip Rodgers, referring to a surveillance video taken at the casino July 9.

Khoury faces up to a year in jail when he is sentenced April 16. The original charge carried up to two years in prison.

Khoury’s attorney, Roderick Cottom, had filed a notice with the court that he intended to argue a defense of temporary insanity.

Khoury has said his behavior was caused by intoxication from a mixture of medication and alcohol. He attended an intensive alcohol rehabilitation program in Minnesota last year.

Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle said the victim, who lives in North Carolina, was scheduled to fly to Traverse City to testify today at the trial, but the plea deal was struck early enough to cancel those arrangements.

A woman who answered the phone at the church’s headquarters in New Jersey said no one there would provide information about Khoury’s current status with the church.