Deposed Priest Had Plans to Leave the Country

Prior to his arrest last week at his home in Marblehead, a former New Hampshire Episcopal priest charged with multiple counts of felonious sexual assault had plans to travel to England, according to documents provided by the Hillsborough County Superior Court.

On Thursday, July 7, Franklin Huntress, Jr. was arrested and extradited to New Hampshire and arraigned following an arrest warrant being issued on June 30, the result of secret indictments submitted to the Grand Jury June 17.

Huntress retired in 1995, but had been working until February at the and , the Boston Globe reported earlier this year.

Those same court documents indicate Huntress was considered a flight risk due to travel plans he had made this summer to England, where he faced similar charges following an alleged 1994 incident.

Huntress, who served as Assistant Priest at Grace Episcopal Chapel in Manchester, NH, from 1971-75, is accused of multiple assaults with a child who was under the age of 13 between the dates of Jan. 18, 1984 and April 27, 1985, when Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis Hogan said the incidents allegedly occurred in Bedford, NH.

The alleged victim is now 39.

Following his arraignment, the 78-year-old Huntress was released on $25,000 bail and returned to his Marblehead home.

If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison for each of the four Class B Felony counts of sexual assault he's facing.

No future court dates have been set.