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	Priest Allowed to Go to Boston for Event, Circuit Judge Decides By Susan Spencer-Wendel and Lona O'Connor Palm Beach Post July 19, 2007 http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/07/19/s1b_priest_0719.html Florida — The Rev. John Skehan, accused of misappropriating $8.7 million in church money, is scheduled to leave today on a two-week trip to Boston. Circuit Judge Sandra McSorley agreed to allow Skehan to travel there for a "family gathering," a court order says. Skehan, 80, is charged with felony grand theft for allegedly stealing money while pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach. The grand theft charge is punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison. Under state sentencing guidelines, though, Skehan likely faces a few years as charged. He is free on a steep bond - $400,000 - and required to regularly check in with a program monitoring his whereabouts. Assistant State Attorney Preston Mighdoll said Wednesday that he agreed to the Boston trip, which he recalled being a wedding anniversary reception for a relative of Skehan's. Mighdoll noted that defendants' requests to travel have been granted in the past when there is a bondsman watching over them and a reputable defense attorney who helps ensure their reappearance for court. Skehan has both. "These things have been agreed to," said Mighdoll. "Some other people's reputations are on the line as well." Veteran defense attorney Scott Richardson, contacted via e-mail, said it was some sort of wedding anniversary Skehan is to attend. He declined to comment further. Skehan, contacted at his home in Delray Beach, also declined comment. Wearing a T-shirt and trousers, he was carrying in the mail, including a newspaper from his home county of Kilkenny, Ireland, and carrying a plastic bag with prescription bottles. "My attorney would be very upset if I said anything," Skehan said. "God bless." He had to surrender all passports as a condition of his bond, according to court records. A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Palm Beach, Alexis Walkenstein, said Skehan is not permitted to exercise his priestly duties in public. Arrested and charged with grand theft last year along with Skehan is the Rev. Francis B. Guinan. According to charging documents, the two are accused of stealing hundreds of thousands in offertory money from St. Vincent. News of the alleged crime spread internationally, with some calling it one of the biggest financial scandals in the modern history of the Roman Catholic Church in America. Skehan is due back from Boston on Aug. 5. Contact: susan_spencer_wendel@pbpost.com
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