Priest Charged With Attempted Rape

A Roman Catholic priest was charged Friday with trying to rape a parishioner inside a church rectory.

The Rev. Albert Fernando was ordered held on $100,000 bail on charges of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree attempted rape and first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

A 30-year-old woman told police she was attacked Thursday while working in the rectory at Sacred Heart Church on Staten Island.

Fernando, 48, arrived from Bombay three months ago for a one-year sabbatical, said Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York.