Grand jury indicts Midland man on arson charge

Tuesday, Nov. 27 | By Mark Grandstaff

A Fauquier grand jury indicted a Midland man charged with setting fire to the future home of St. Patrick Orthodox Church in July.

On Monday, Sean Edward Macsorley, 29, was indicted on a felony count of breaking and entering to commit larceny and a felony count of arson.

According to a criminal complaint written by Fauquier Detective Jim Jones, Macsorley entered a barn on 6588 Balls Mill Road to steal tools.

Once inside, Macsorley "deliberately discarded a lit cigarette into a pile of paper trash and sawdust," according to the complaint.

The Sheriff's Office investigated the ensuing July 25 fire. St. Patrick Orthodox Church had raised about $80,000 to convert the barn into a new church for the parish, said the Rev. Patrick Cardine.

The work was a few weeks away from completion before it burned to the ground.

Last year, Macsorley made the news in Prince William County when he struck a would-be burglar with a guitar in his home in Manassas.

In 2001, Macsorley pleaded guilty to two counts of grand larceny, one count of possession of receipt of stolen property and one count of possession of cocaine, according to records from Prince William County's circuit court.

In the meantime, Cardine's small parish faces a multi-year struggle to recover from their loss.

Right now, their church gathers at a location in the Fox Den Antique Mall in Warrenton. They had hoped to expand into the barn after the renovations.

Now that it's gone, Cardine will have to re-zone a portion of the property for new construction, hire land engineers, and start a process of paperwork, permits and building that will probably take another several years and about $1 million, he said.

Anyone who wants to help St. Patrick Orthodox Church can call Cardine at (703) 819-0093 or donate at the church's website, http://www.stpatrickorthodox.org

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