Ohio bishop charged with sexual misconduct
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – An Orthodox bishop from Ohio was arrested and charged with groping a woman’s breast while she played a slot machine at a casino, officials said Friday.
Demetri Khoury, 54, of Toledo, was arraigned Thursday on charges of criminal sexual conduct, a fourth-degree felony, and being drunk and disorderly. He was released on $25,000 bond.
A preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 1 for Khoury, who oversees eight states and Ontario for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church. The church requires bishops to take a vow of celibacy.
Michigan State Police trooper Paul Kushner, the arresting officer, told The Blade of Toledo that the incident was recorded on the Turtle Creek Casino’s video surveillance system.
Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle said an unidentified woman from North Carolina initially complained about the bishop’s behavior to casino security, who told him he was no longer allowed to drink.
The bishop remained seated at a slot machine and the woman returned to a seat near him.
”When Bishop Demetri got up to leave, he patted the victim on the left shoulder, above the upper arm,” LaBelle said.
”She didn’t do anything. Then as he moved behind her, he reached over, around the front of her left arm, and touched her left breast. The woman got up and retaliated, and tried to slap Bishop Demetri a couple of times.”
The woman reported the incident to casino security, who then called the Michigan State Police just before 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Khoury could not be reached for comment by phone and there was no answer Friday evening at his home, The Blade said. Church officials in Toledo, Detroit, and the denomination’s national headquarters in Englewood, N.J., either declined comment or could not be reached by the paper.
If convicted of the sexual misconduct charge, the bishop faces up to two years in jail, $500 fine and mandatory HIV/sexually transmitted disease testing, LaBelle said. The drunk and disorderly charge, a misdemeanor, carries a 90-day sentence and/or fine of $500.
A native of Ramallah, in the West Bank, Khoury was ordained as a priest in 1975 and consecrated as a bishop in 1995. He oversees approximately 45 churches in a region that includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kentucky, West Virginia and Ontario.
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, which has 450,000 members, was established in the late 19th century. It is under the supervision of the Patriarch and Holy Synod of Antioch, headquartered in Damascus, Syria.
Khoury served as a pastor in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Florida before being appointed a bishop and assigned to the Toledo chancery in 1995.