A Roman Catholic priest pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he beat and sexually assaulted a female soloist at a southern Nevada parish office.No bail was set for the Rev. George Chaanine, 52, who has been jailed without bail since his arrest Feb. 1 near Phoenix after nearly a week on the run.
A court hearing master, Kevin Williams, accepted Chaanine's plea and set a date next Thursday for Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt to schedule a trial and consider bail.
Chaanine faces a possible sentence of life in prison if convicted of seven felony charges including attempted murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and battery in the Jan. 26 attack at the Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church office.
A Las Vegas judge on Feb. 27 bound him over for trial in state court after gripping testimony from Chaanine's accuser, a 54-year-old former Las Vegas Strip singer and church employee.
She said Chaanine hit her in the head with a wine bottle, groped and choked her until she began praying and he suddenly stopped and fled.
Defense lawyers Jeff Banks and Scott Coffee, deputy Clark County public defenders, said outside court Thursday that they intend to show that the woman and Chaanine had a romantic relationship.
"Relationships are a two-way street. They always are," Coffee said. "That's what we're finding in this case."
Prosecutors Lisa Luzaich and Mary Kay Holthus declined comment about the case outside court.
The woman and her daughter testified that Chaanine seemed obsessed with wooing the woman.
They said the priest, who began work at Our Lady of Las Vegas in 2004, showered her with gifts, clothing, meals and attention, and travelled alone with her to places including the Grand Canyon.
The daughter, who also worked in the church office, said that two days before the alleged attack, Chaanine's demeanor changed. She testified that he made a motion toward his head with his hand in the shape of a gun and said he intended to send her mother "to heaven."
The woman, who was hospitalized and received 20 surgical staples to close gashes in her head after the attack, said she was hit from behind and dragged across the office before Chaanine groped and choked her.
She said she became unconscious and awoke with Chaanine atop her and choking her. She said she prayed for her life before Chaanine stopped and said he was going to get a gun to kill himself.
He did not return.
The Diocese of Las Vegas is not paying for Chaanine's defense. He has been suspended with pay from his role as administrator at the Our Lady of Las Vegas parish, in a neighborhood northwest of the Las Vegas Strip.
Chaanine, a native of Lebanon, was ordained in 1996 in the Eastern Catholic Maronite church.
The diocese said he worked in Detroit; Youngstown, Ohio; Wheeling, W.Va.; and El Paso, Texas, before moving to Las Vegas.
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