By Mary Cody and Laura Keys
Kilkenny People
April 3, 2009
http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/Detective-in-Fr-Skehan-case.5126080.jp
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| Fr John Skehan: received a 14-month sentence for stealing from parish collection plate |
THE detective who investigated Kilkenny priest Father John Skehan, 81, for stealing hundreds of thousands of euro from his parish collection plate in Florida says the 14-month sentence handed down to the elderly man was too harsh.
Fr Skehan, who is originally from Johnstown, was jailed in a Florida court last week in a move that stunned the investigating officer.
In an interview given to RTE's Morning Ireland show last week, Detective Thomas Whately expressed his surprise at the sentence dealt out to the priest.
"Part of me is surprised at the sentence because prosecutors, the Attorney General and people who represented the diocese were all on the same page in that he should receive 10 years probation," Det. Whately said.
"This was because of his age and the fact that he made as much restitution as he possibly financially could back to the church, which was in the region of US$700,000 and he admitted wrongdoing and guilt."
Det Whately said he struggled to find anyone throughout the investigation who disliked Fr Skehan - including the parishioners he stole from.
"He was a well-liked priest in the community," Det Whately said. "In fact, I like him and I haven't said that about too many first-degree felons in my 21 years of investigations, but I liked him when I walked him into the jail to get booked. Trying to interview and talk to people that really supported Skehan was a really difficult task because I couldn't find one person who disliked him.
"There's a term over here that people used to describe him. Because he's very short, about 5'2" and he's got the Kilkenny accent, a lot of people referred to him as the Likeable Leprechaun," he laughed.
Det Whately said police were tipped off about Fr Skehan and another priest in the parish, Fr Francis Guinan, 66, originally from Co Offaly, stealing funds from the church by an anonymous letter received through the local newspaper. He said the investigation revealed that, although Fr Skehan had been stealing church funds, his "misappropriation" of the money only came about because of Fr Guinan who, unlike Fr Skehan, was intensely disliked in the parish.
"That was the whole reason this came about," Det Whately said. "Guinan ran that church with an iron fist and many people didn't like him. Guinan was really hardcore with parishioners and employers and nobody liked him and somebody said 'we know he's doing this and it's wrong so we're going to turn him in' and when we peeled back the onion layers, Fr Skehan started to surface as the organiser of the scheme.
Skehan had been running this scheme, if you will, for 40 years and about US$8m over 40-year period went missing, but timewise, we can only go back five years to charge both gentlemen, which was US$300,000 to US$400,000 a piece.”
Det Whately said Fr Skehan had admitted his guilt from the outset and was very remorseful about what he had done.
“He was very remorseful and admitted his wrongdoing and indiscretions with the gold coins straight away,” he said. “He had approximately US$400,000 worth of gold coins hidden in a safe deposit box that he bought with offering money. He was remorseful through the whole process and even up until the sentencing he showed remorse and that’s why he spared the public a trial to spare the embarrassment to the parish. He wasn’t as egregious as Guinan was - Guinan was a little more flaunting with the money. Skehan was a little more secretive about it, but he did it over a longer period of time.
“Skehan developed this scheme to hide money from the diocese and when you're in the third richest church in a five-county diocese, you can get US$250 in an Easter offering and that money can build up very quickly and I think the greed just set in.”
During his trial in West Palm Beach in January Fr Skehan admitted the charge of grand theft of over US$100,000. He had been with the church for more than 40 years at that point.
He was convicted of taking US$370,000 between 2001 and 2006, the five-year time frame for such times covered by the statute of limitations in Florida.
Fr Skehan is due to begin his sentence on May 1 and he will serve seven years probation, the West Palm Beach court heard. Fr Skehan has also agreed to make a restitution of over US$700,000.
Due to his advanced age, his remorse and his guilty plea, his sentence was less than the possible jail term of between 22 months and 30 years.
However, Judge Jeffrey Colbath said he should be jailed for violating a sacred trust and he described the crime as true greed unmasked.
During his sentence hearing, Fr Skehan began to cry as he made a statement revealing that he was ashamed of his actions.
“I have been devastated in so many ways and recognise the implication of the illegal acts I committed,” Fr Skehan said, according to reports in the Palm Beach Post newspaper.
“I committed these acts, this taking of money I wasn’t entitled to, even though I knew it was wrong,” he added.
A spokesman for the archdiocese said in court that it was concerned for restitution rather than incarceration and the defence witnesses had asked the judge for leniency.
Fr Guinan was due to be sentenced for similar offences last week.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of grand theft of up to US$100,000 and faces a sentence of up to 15 years in jail.
Fr Skehan is also understood to have purchased a collection of gold coins worth some US$400,000 and is also reported to have bought a cottage in Co Clare, a penthouse condominium worth US$455,000 in Singer Island, Florida, and another in Delray Beach.
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