St. George Priest Trial: Situation 'Stupefied' 2nd Pastor
By Gary V. Murray
WORCESTER — The Rev. Donald J. Peters, associate pastor of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral at the time, said he was "stupefied" by what he was hearing. "I didn't know what to make of it. I wanted to make believe it didn't happen," he said from the witness stand yesterday in Central District Court. What Rev. Peters reported hearing from inside the office of the church's pastor, Rev. Charles Michael Abdelahad, on that afternoon in 2008, was the voice of "Father Michael" screaming profanities at someone, a woman pleading, "Please stop. You're hurting me. Stop. I want out of here" and what sounded like someone slamming their hand on a desk. On two prior occasions, he said, he had heard Rev. Abdelahad shouting profanities in his office after he had gone to the church on Anna Street to check his mail. But this time, he said, he also heard the voice of a frightened woman and he went into the office to investigate. Upon entering, he said, he saw a woman curled up in a fetal position in a chair, shaking and "sobbing hysterically." The woman, now 45 years old, would later accuse Rev. Abdelahad of physically abusing and sexually assaulting her during counseling sessions aimed at treating her eating disorder. The accusations led to the indecent assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery charges for which the 55-year-old Rev. Abdelahad is now on trial. Rev. Peters, who was called to the stand as a prosecution witness by Assistant District Attorney Cheryl R. Riddle, said he left the church that afternoon after telling the pastor, now on a leave of absence, he would speak to him later. When that conversation took place, he said, he told Rev. Abdelahad he was worried both about him and the woman. Rev. Peters said he advised the pastor that people in the church were talking about the unconventional methods he seemed to be employing in his counseling sessions with the woman and that he feared Rev. Abdelahad was going to destroy himself, his family and his church. Rev. Abdelahad responded that the counseling sessions were loud and intense because the woman being counseled was "possessed by a demon," but that he had things "under control," Rev. Peters testified. He said he left the church in September 2010 because he felt it was "no longer a spiritually healthy place for my family and I." Under cross-examination by Rev. Abdelahad's lawyer, James G. Reardon Jr., Rev. Peters acknowledged that there had been difficulties between him and Rev. Abdelahad even before the 2008 confrontation in the pastor's office. After the confrontation, Rev. Abdelahad treated him as "a nonentity" and "basically would not communicate with me," Rev. Peters testified. Rev. Peters, who is also a lawyer, told Mr. Reardon it was "foolishness" if he was suggesting through his line of questioning that he would perjure himself because of any bad feelings he may have about Rev. Abdelahad. Rev. Peters also agreed that he did not say in a statement to police that he heard Rev. Abdelahad's accuser telling the pastor to stop during the 2008 counseling session. He said the interview with police was "very brief" and that he was not asked to give "an exhaustive account" of what he heard. Judge Andrew M. D'Angelo is presiding over the jury-waived trial, which was scheduled to resume today. Contact: gmurray@telegram.com
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