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	Those Who Know Accused Priests Stunned By Chris Young TCPalm September 30, 2006 http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5031737,00.html Port St. Lucie — Friends and neighbors of two priests accused of stealing more than $8.6 million from their Palm Beach County parish were stunned by the charges against the pair. A yearlong investigation into church finances resulted Thursday in charges of grand theft filed against the two priests, John A. Skehan and Frances B. Guinan. Skehan, 79, was held in the Palm Beach County jail on $400,000 bail, while Guinan, 63, still was at large Friday, reportedly on an Australian cruise. Barbara Lynn, whose mother allegedly received money from Skehan, said she was "just shocked" when she heard about Skehan's arrest and gifts — and police allegations that her mother, M. Hilda Nataline, had been romantically involved with the retired monsignor. Lynn, 55, denied any intimate relationship between the two, saying her mother, now a widow, had been happily married with four children. "It's very insulting," she said Friday at her home on Northeast Sagamore Terrace. "I was around all the time, being the youngest. There was nothing going on between them." Lynn asked her mother about the allegations, but Nataline, 84, who has Alzheimer's disease and is in a nursing home, "doesn't remember him." Lynn had known Skehan since she was a child in Hallandale Beach, where Skehan was a pastor and friend of the family. Originally from Ireland, Skehan was "the life of the party," and would play the accordion and sing at parties, she said. Skehan is accused of using collection plate funds from St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach to buy a condo, a $275,000 coin collection, and a cottage and pub in Ireland, according to a police report. Skehan's replacement at St. Vincent, Francis Guinan, bought a three-bedroom home at the St. James Golf Club after resigning as pastor last year amid the internal and police investigations. He allegedly used church funds to pay for $15,000 worth of dental work, $7,270 for his girlfriend's son's schooling and money for his girlfriend, according to the affidavit. Although church employees and parishioners said Guinan liked to party, neighbors said he was quiet and mostly kept to himself. They last saw Guinan several weeks ago. His house, in a manicured neighborhood where people leave their garage doors open and children bike down the street, was well maintained. His screen room looks out onto the 18th tee. Rob Vassallo, a next door neighbor, said Guinan would ask him to pick up his newspaper when Guinan traveled to Ireland or elsewhere for weeks at a time. "You'd never take him as an embezzler," said Vassallo, 69. Robert McLaughlin, who lives across the street, said he observed Guinan's constant travel and $325,000 house and thought to himself, "Something's not right. This guy's been taking from the donation box. There's no way he's a retired priest." Guinan had a heavyset woman with a small dog come over to the house all the time, said McLaughlin, 42. Both men are golfers and played together once, telling jokes and talking about their Irish homeland. "It makes you wonder, when you donate to the church, where the money's going," McLaughlin said. chris.young@scripps.com
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