A Roman Catholic priest accused of beating and sexually assaulting a female employee at his Las Vegas parish and fleeing to Arizona could soon be extradited to Nevada to face charges, an FBI official said.The Rev. George Chaanine, 52, was arrested without incident Thursday by FBI agents in Apache Junction, about 30 miles east of Phoenix, said Deb McCarley, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Phoenix.
He was being held in a county jail in Phoenix on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. But that charge most likely would be dropped so Chaanine can be quickly extradited to Las Vegas, where he is wanted for attempted murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and battery with a deadly weapon, McCarley said.
Chaanine has been a fugitive since the alleged Jan. 26 assault of 54-year-old Michaelina Bellamy at the Our Lady of Las Vegas parish office.
Bellamy, who worked at the parish office where Chaanine was an administrator, told Las Vegas police that she was sitting at her desk when Chaanine broke a full bottle of wine over her head, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her down a hall toward his office.
She fought back, lost consciousness, and awoke with Chaanine touching her private parts, according to the police report. She continued fighting until Chaanine straddled her and grabbed her throat. Bellamy told detectives she began to pray for her life before the attack suddenly stopped.
After the assault, Bellamy told police Chaanine muttered that he was going to kill himself, told Bellamy to wait 15 minutes, said he would call an ambulance, and left the church.
Chaanine has been suspended with pay from his position as church administrative pastor.
In a statement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas, Bishop Joseph Pepe praised authorities for finding Chaanine.
"We are relieved that Father Chaanine has been found and now justice can be served through the legal process," Pepe said. "We have worked closely with the authorities and are hopeful that the information we provided proved helpful."
Chaanine, a native of Lebanon, was ordained in 1996 and worked at churches in Detroit, Youngstown, Ohio, El Paso, Texas, and Wheeling, W.Va., before beginning work at Our Lady of Las Vegas in 2004, the diocese said.
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