By Laurel J. Sweet
Boston Herald
November 9, 2010
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2010110983g_scam_pinned_on_ex-pastor_haverhill_priest_allegedly_stole_church_funds_for_porn/
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| Rev. Keith P. LeBlanc. |
A Haverhill priest stole more than $79,000 in cash donated and raised piecemeal through candle sales and Christmas bazaars by devout parishioners and rang up $4,000 in pay-per-view porn charges on his church's Comcast cable bill, investigators allege in court documents.
The Rev. Keith P. LeBlanc, 59, pleaded not guilty Oct. 26 in Haverhill District Court to larceny and forgery charges after seven years as pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Haverhill.
Police said he was using the money — discovered missing during an audit by the Archdiocese of Boston — to pay down a $25,000 balance on a credit card he used to peruse smut online, to pay rent on an apartment in downtown Haverhill he kept outside the rectory and to cover his car payments.
"Father LeBlanc admitted to (Archdiocese attorney Mark) Dunderdale that he has an addiction and needs help," a police report on file at Haverhill District Court states.
LeBlanc, who was ordained in 1996, became pastor of St. John the Baptist in September 2003. "The movies started the day Father LeBlanc came to the parish," police report in court filings.
Documents state LeBlanc resigned in June and was relocated to the St. John Vianney Center — a behavioral clinic for clergy in Pennsylvania. When a Herald reporter phoned the center yesterday asking to speak with LeBlanc, a spokeswoman declined to say whether he was there.
St. John the Baptist staff and several parishioners reached yesterday — including a member of the parish finance council whose name police allege LeBlanc forged on a March audit report without her knowledge — also declined to comment on the accusations against the priest.
Efforts to reach LeBlanc's lawyer were unsuccessful yesterday.
Archdiocese spokesman Terrence C. Donilon said, "We continue to pray for Fr. Leblanc, for the parish of St. John the Baptist and for all those impacted by these events."
LeBlanc is free on personal recognizance pending a Dec. 3 pretrial hearing.
In what would turn out to be his final address to his parishioners before his resignation, LeBlanc wrote in a parish bulletin in June in praise of the working class he's now accused of ripping off:
"In these current tough economic times, we have struggled and yet we have maintained a vibrant and spirit-filled community we can be very proud of."
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