Cloistered priest enters no contest plea in sex assault

BY STACI WILSON

A former monastery priest faces up to two years in jail after he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor indecent assault charge Tuesday, Sept. 6 in Susquehanna County Court.

With the plea, Phillip Albert Ferrara, 49, who now resides in St. Marys,Kansas, neither admits nor disputes the charge that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old-boy who was staying with his family at the Our Lady of Solitude monastery on several occasions November 2010 – January 2011.

The cloistered monastery is located inMiddletownand Apolacon townships.

District Attorney Jason Legg said the victim’s mother was consulted regarding the plea and had agreed with the resolution of the case.

Additional charges of indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old and corruption of minors were dropped.

Legg said the indecent assault count is not a Megan’s Law offense but the court would likely orderFerrarato undergo a sexual predator evaluation.

Ferrarais scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 20 and remains free on $10,000 unsecured bail.

Ferrarawas previously referred to as Superior Hieromonk Angelus on the Our Lady of Solitude website, which is part of the Melkite (Byzantine) Catholic Church which is in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

He was arrested in March after surrendering to state police in Gibson.

Archbishop Cyril Bustros of the Melkite Eparchy inNewton,Mass., released a statement in early April that upon learning of the credible occurrence of abuse of a minor, “Rev. Ferrara was immediately suspended and relieved of all priestly duties and placed in a treatment center for evaluation.”

According to the affidavit,Ferraraallegedly told the victim his sperm duct was blocked and was causing him intense back pain and it helped when his penis was massaged.

The victim told police he had massaged Ferrara’s penis with his feet on two occasions and that he had felt bad for Ferrara because he was in pain and on about 10 separate occasions he had also massaged the priest’s back with oil.

According to the affidavit,Ferrarawas introduced to the victim’s family as the administrator at the Eastern Catholic cloistered monastery.

According to the Our Lady of Solitude website, the cloister is one of six monasteries of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Newton, Mass.

In 2010, there were 59,704 Melkite Catholics in theUnited StatesandCanada, with parishes in 18 states.

FollowingFerrara’s arrest, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton issued a statement that even thoughSusquehannaCountywas in its purview, the Melchite Catholic Church was not. It also underscored that the victim was presently a resident ofBerksCountywhich is within the Diocese of Allentown.