Judge Lowers Cash Bail to $50,000 for Suspended Bangor Priest Charged with Possession of Child Pornography

By Judy Harrison
Bangor Daily News
November 5, 2014

https://bangordailynews.com/2014/11/05/news/bangor/judge-lowers-cash-bail-to-50000-for-suspended-bangor-priest-charged-with-possession-of-child-pornography/?ref=comments

Adam Metropoulos

The suspended Greek Orthodox priest arrested in September on charges that he allegedly possessed child pornography and surreptitiously photographed a woman taking a shower in his bathroom remained Wednesday night at the Penobscot County Jail even though a judge lowered his bail earlier in the day.

Superior Court Justice Ann Murray set bail for Adam Metropoulos, 52, of Bangor at $50,000 cash or $100,000 surety, according to the Penobscot County district attorney’s office. In September, District Court Judge John Lucy set bail at $100,000 cash or surety.

Murray lowered the amount of cash bail at the request of Metropoulos’ attorney, Marvin Glazier of Bangor.

Metropoulos owns property in the Millinocket area, according to a previously published report.

Metropoulos has been held at the jail in Bangor since his arrest Sept. 15, when he was charged with one count each of possession of sexually explicit material, a Class C crime, and violation of privacy, a Class D crime.

He has not entered pleas to those charges because he has not yet been indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury.

Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County, said outside the courthouse after Metropoulos’ first court appearance in September that the high bail was warranted given the suspended priest’s 1983 conviction on a sex charge in Michigan and his admission to police that a few years ago, he “touched two 15-year-old boys inappropriately.”

“We thought it best to act aggressively to ensure the safety of the children in the community,” Roberts said.

The prosecutor also said that, so far, no sexually explicit photos or videos of local children had been found on Metropoulos’ computer.

The bishop of the Greek Orthodox diocese that includes Maine suspended the priest of St. George church the day after his arrest.

Metropoulos was convicted in Michigan in 1983 of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 13, according to Saginaw court records.

If convicted, Metropoulos faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 on the possession of child pornography charge and up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 on the violation of privacy charge.