Port Charlotte priest arrested in sex sting

Rev. Kavouras solicited prostitution, cops say

A Port Charlotte priest was among 14 people arrested on prostitution charges during a Fort Myers police sting operation Thursday night.

The Rev. Demetrios Kavouras, 68, of Cape Coral, was charged with soliciting or inducing another to commit prostitution, a misdemeanor, according to a police report.

The arrest came after Kavouras solicited sex from a female undercover police officer posing as a “street prostitute,” according a Fort Myers police report.

The so-called “john operation” was organized by the department’s Special Investigations Unit after residents complained about prostitution, said police Sgt. Jeff Bernice.

Kavouras is the priest of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on Rampart Boulevard in Deep Creek. However, he won’t be leading his flock, at least for now. He’s been “suspended,” said a church leader contacted at the church Friday afternoon.

The church leader, who declined to give his name, said a group of church members were meeting to consider how to respond to the arrest.

Phone calls to both Kavouras’ home and the church went unreturned Friday.

During the sting operation, the undercover officers waited at the intersection of Cleveland Avenue and Hanson Street for people to approach them. The department’s takedown team waited nearby.

Driving a small silver vehicle, Kavouras approached one of the undercover officers, according to the police report. He then pulled into a parking lot and waved the officer over to his car.

The officer at first walked away, but Kavouras called her back, the report states.

According to the report:

Kavouras asked her if she wanted a ride.

“Well, what do you want to do?” the officer asked him.

“Full sex,” he replied.

Kavouras then pulled up a corner of his shorts to expose himself.

The officer also noticed that he was “sitting on a sex toy.”

The two then negotiated on a price: “Full sex for twenty,” Kavouras said.

Kavouras then instructed the officer to wait behind a nearby bank where he would pick her up “so no one could see her getting into his vehicle,” the report stated.

He was then apprehended by police.

Other suspects arrested during the operation include … ; and a juvenile whose identity was withheld by police.