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	Prosecutors Refile Theft Charge against Two Priests By Susan Spencer-Wendel Palm Beach Post July 1, 2008 http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/07/01/0701priests.html WEST PALM BEACH — Prosecutors have refiled grand theft charges against two priests for allegedly bilking St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Click-2-Listen The Revs. John Skehan and Francis Guinan again each face the first-degree felony charge of grand theft over $100,000, a crime punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison, according to a court record. In February, with a trial bearing down and Circuit Judge Sandra McSorley and lawyers at loggerheads, State Attorney Barry Krischer dropped the charges against the priests but vowed to refile. The dramatic move came after McSorley chided the lawyers for their delays in exchanging evidence and preparing for trial and declined to rule on their request for a continuance in the complex financial case. At the time, Krischer had strong words: "It is the state who controls prosecution, not the court," Krischer wrote. The dropping of the charges is the state's "assertion of its authority to control its prosecutions and to ensure the defendants receive a fair trial." A spokesman for Krischer, Mike Edmondson, declined to comment today on when and if the priests will face trial. Defense attorneys for 80-year-old Skehan and 65-year-old Guinan could not immediately be reached for comment. Delray Beach Police charged Skehan and Guinan in September 2006 with stealing offertory money from St. Vincent Ferrer. Detectives called them "professional money launderers" and estimated the men had misappropriated millions over the years at the parish, spending some on lavish trips, gambling and girlfriends. The amounts for which the priests are possibly criminally liable have been winnowed down over the course of the prosecution as statute of limitations rules have come into play. A trial could spotlight accounting practices within the Catholic Church that are under increasing scrutiny as more embezzlement cases are uncovered within parishes.
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