By Anne Barrowclough
The Times
January 22, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5564387.ece
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| Reverend John Skehan |
Every Sunday, the parishioners of St Vincent Ferrer Catholic church in Florida dropped their dollar notes into the collection plate, confident that the money would go straight into the church.
And so it did - but not in quite the way they might have expected.
First, it went into a hiding place in the ceiling tiles of the Delray Beach Church. Then it found its way into an offshore account from where it was used to fund gambling trips to Las Vegas, lavish homes and even a mistress. Over a quarter of a million dollars was spent on a rare coin collection.
In a Florida court yesterday, Reverend John Skehan, 81, pleaded guilty to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in what prosecutors believe may be the biggest embezzlement case to hit the US Catholic Church. He and his colleague, Rev Francis Guinan, 66, who has denied the charges, were about to go on trial for the theft of nearly $1million between 2001 and 2006 - the time frame covered by the statute of limitations. However, church auditors believe the true amount could be closer to $8 million, stolen over a period of 20 years.
As well as spending their parishioners' money on interstate gambling trips, Rev Guinan spent much of the funds taking his mistress, a former church book-keeper, on luxury holidays, prosecutors claim. He also paid her credit card bills and her child's school fees.
His luxurious life began to unravel in 2005, however, when a tip off from an anonymous parishioner prompted police to contact the church, which was already investigating alleged improprieties at St Vincent Ferrer, and an audit of the church books.
The two priests fled the country, but Rev Guinan wrote to the church begging them to "call off the dogs", and protesting his innocence in a passionate letter in which he described himself and Rev Skehan as "generous, charitable and compassionate".
"Priests devote their lives to the church with little thought for personal gain," he argued. "They have earned and deserve trust, at least until proven otherwise ... May I be so crude as to ask you to 'call off the dogs'?"
His pleas were ignored and Rev Skehan was arrested at Palm Beach International Airport in September 2006, returning from the Republic of Ireland.
Richard Barlow, Rev Guinan's lawyer, yesterday insisted his client did nothing wrong and that the money he allegedly stole was really used to make cash payments to church employees. "Just because both priests worked at the same church and one pleads guilty it doesn't mean my guy is guilty," said Mr Barlow. Rev Guinan’s trial has now been adjourned until February 18.
Rev Skehan faces 31 years in prison, although he is expected to call 20 character witnesses at his sentencing, scheduled for March.
His lawyer, Scott Richardson, said he and the state had reached an "amicable resolution" and that "Father Skehan accepted responsibility for his actions by virtue of his guilty plea."
He added: "It's been extraordinarily difficult for him from the beginning."
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