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A CATHOLIC priest accused of attempting to lure a girl into his car has been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving on a flight from Australia.

US authorities allege Michael T. Patrick, 57, drove alongside the 14-year-old girl and attempted to persuade her to get into his car as she walked home from school in Vancouver, Oregon about 5.30pm on March 10.

“Come on, cutie,” the priest told the girl after she repeatedly refused his requests, police said.

The girl ran to a daycare centre and phoned her mother, police were called and the victim described the driver as “heavy-set with a dark complexion, dark hair and facial hair on his sideburns and chin”.

The girl also remembered the vehicle’s numberplate.

When a police officer questioned Patrick, who confirmed he was a priest from the St Wenceslaus parish in Oregon, tears formed in his eyes, although he denied any sort of contact with a female pedestrian, police allege.

D1B wrote:Joltin Joe to dig up an isolated Philly case to somehow cast doubt on this case in3...2...1...

D1B wrote:Another scumbag. WTF was he doing in Australia?

Vidav wrote:Lies. The victim was female.

Cluck U wrote:

D1B wrote:Another scumbag. WTF was he doing in Australia?

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuh, he was going the to The Land Down Underage.

Grizalltheway wrote:There is no Vancouver, Oregon.

CID1990 wrote:

Grizalltheway wrote:There is no Vancouver, Oregon.

HOLY SH!T THAT MEANS IT MUST NOT BE TRUE!



Spandoe did I do that right?

Grizalltheway wrote:There is no Vancouver, Oregon.

JoltinJoe wrote:This is the last you'll ever hear of this case. Law enforcement arrests priest and issues a press release, knowing that any story involving a priest is going to get picked up by national and international media. Yay for us!!

Of course, there was no physical contact alleged, and the truth or falsity of the alleged event depends entirely on the word of the 14-year-old girl. Prosecutor who gets this case will view it as un-winnable and will be desperate to cut some deal. Some deal gets cut, priest cops out to some minor disorderly persons offense, and the case gets filed away quietly. No further announcements about the case.

VANCOUVER -- Court documents obtained by KGW tell the story of a courageous teenaged girl who kept her head and did the right thing when police said she was pursued by a man in a car.

The Vancouver teen did not panic as a stranger stalked and beckoned her last week, according to court documents. She ran into a day care to call her mother,

The suspect in the case, Father Michael Patrick of St. Wenceslaus Church in Scappoose, remained in a Los Angeles jail Tuesday awaiting extradition to Washington.

The girl was walking down Northeast 28th Street on March 10, near a strip mall, when a man drove up beside her. Several times, the man asked her to get in and each time, she refused, according to an arrest affidavit by Vancouver police Det. Jason Hafer.

She walked faster, turning onto Northeast 132nd Avenue. The man continued to stalk her, at one point telling her, "Come on, cutie." That's when she walked into a day care to call her mom.

The girl was able to provide a license number and later identify a suspect tied to the vehicle. She told Vancouver officer David Jensen that she was certain of an "11" on a scale of one to 10 that it was the same man.

Jensen had stopped Patrick earlier and asked him about the incident with the girl. He denied what she had said about a stalker. Jensen said there were long pauses before he answered questions, and he appeared several times to shed tears.

On March 25, police returned to Patrick's residence with a search warrant. He was not there and neighbors said he had left for a trip to Australia, returning April 2. Police then issued a warrant for his arrest on a charge of luring.

Patrick was arrested as he walked off a plane at Los Angeles International Airport.

Nearby residents praised the girl’s courage and judgment.

“I’m glad she did the right thing and did what she should have done,” said Ashley Lanham.

The Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon issued a statement that said Father Patrick has been removed from pastoral duties. Church authorities were cooperating with investigators, spokesman Bud Bunce said in the statement.

"Ultimately, we must trust in the justice system," Bunce said. "We ask all to join us in prayer for justice." How bout praying that this shit don't happen to begin with. Dumbasses

The Catholic Sentinel reported that Father Patrick has served in the archdiocese since 1998.

Father Patrick also has served at St. Alexander in Cornelius, St. Patrick in Portland, St. Edward in Keizer, St. Philip Benizi in Redland and Holy Trinity in Bandon, the Sentinel reported.