Father Joe LeClair to be sentenced Wednesday morning

CBC News
March 19, 2014

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/father-joe-leclair-to-be-sentenced-wednesday-morning-1.2577311

Father Joe LeClair is set to be sentenced for fraud on Wednesday morning.

A popular Ottawa priest who stole $130,000 from his church is expected to find out Wednesday morning whether or not he will be sent to jail for his crimes.

Father Joe LeClair, a diagnosed pathological gambler, pleaded guilty to defrauding Blessed Sacrament of the money over the course of five years.

LeClair was the kind of leader that drew people in but his criminal confession has pulled parishioners apart, said Thea Boyd. She used to travel from Blossom Park in south Ottawa to the Glebe for church — specifically for LeClair.

"He just drew you in and right away your faith was restored. He just had that charisma about him," she said. "We still feel that. We could still repeat some of his homilies that he did. He would make you cry and then he would make you laugh."

Now that he's gone, Boyd said that she and other parishioners have been looking for another place to worship.

"We've called it church surfing. Looking for another church, looking for another priest that was as good as Father Joe," she said. 

Father Galen Bank, who came to Blessed Sacrament a year and a half ago said "there's no question" that attendance has fallen at the church since a fraud investigation was launched in 2011. But Bank said the church's finances and number of parishioners has been stable since he arrived.

Crown prosecutor Peter Napier argued at LeClair's sentencing hearing in January that the priest should spend 18 months in jail for his breach of trust.

But defence lawyer Matthew Webber argued LeClair was addicted to work, which fuelled heavy drinking that enabled his gambling. LeClair should serve his sentence in the community rather than jail, Webber argued.

The Archdiocese of Ottawa has promised to work with LeClair in his recovery. In a statement issued after his guilty plea, Archbishop of Ottawa Terrence Prendergast said that LeClair was "courageous" to admit his addiction.

"Aware of his many talents and his 25 years of effective pastoral ministry, we will work with Father LeClair in his desire to return to the exercise of his priestly ministry," the statement said.

Boyd said that LeClair deserves forgiveness.

"The consensus is, if Father Joe came back to that church tomorrow, it would be full again within a week. You know, he did wrong and everybody knows he did wrong, but he needed help — other people have addictions."