Pilfering Priest Exploited Congregation, Court Hears

By Tony Spears
Sun News
January 21, 2014

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2014/01/20140121-185439.html

Joseph Leclair, Former Priest Of Blessed Sacrement Church In The Glebe, Is Photographed Leaving The Ottawa Courthouse On Monday January 20, 2014.

An Ottawa priest took advantage of his saint-like reputation to perpetrate a five-year, $130,000 fraud on his church, a courtroom heard Tuesday.

Peter Napier believes LeClair -- a popular ex-priest who pleaded guilty Monday to fraud and theft charges - deserves 18 months jail for exploiting the church's lax accounting practices and its trusting congregation between 2006 and 2011.

But Matthew Webber argued LeClair, 56, should be given an 18 to 24-month conditional sentence -- essentially house arrest.

"His remorse is complete and across the board," said Webber, characterizing LeClair's very public downfall as "ruin and humiliation."

Webber said LeClair was vulnerable to the seduction of gambling in part because of underlying anxiety and depression problems, for which he took medication.

He took to knocking back six to eight Scotches a night and frequenting the casino, Webber said, noting a psychiatrist diagnosed LeClair as a pathological gambler.

Napier said the case cries out for the clink.

"It is a large-scale fraud perpetrated over a significant period of time," he said. "Father LeClair was well-schooled in the catalogue of human frailties."

LeClair is expected to address the court after sentencing arguments conclude Wednesday.

Contact: tony.spears@sunmedia.ca