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The high-profile case of Father Joe LeClair came to an end this year when he was sentenced to one year in jail for stealing more than $130,000 from Blessed Sacrament Church.
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The diagnosed “pathological gambler” was released from jail on Nov. 9, nine days before he served two-thirds of his sentence and after the Ontario Parole Board granted him a temporary absence for good behaviour.
Since LeClair’s release, the Archdiocese of Ottawa has remained silent on where they will send the disgraced priest. Supporters of LeClair say they have welcomed him with open arms since his release and many would have liked him to return to their parish.
LeClair pleaded guilty on Jan. 20 to theft and fraud charges for stealing from the Blessed Sacrament collection plate, pocketing money paid by hundreds of couples for marriage preparation courses and bilking the church of even more money by writing himself and others cheques from the church account.
The charges were laid more than a year after the Citizen raised concerns about financial irregularities at the church in early 2011. At that time, LeClair had proclaimed his innocence.
“I’m a good person in Ottawa. I do good work,” he said in 2011. “The charities that I give to are numerous to no end. My books are open to absolutely anyone. I have accountants and I am accountable and I would never, never take money from my church.”
Financial irregularities were confirmed by a Deloitte Touche audit that found $1.16 million had been deposited into LeClair‘s personal account between January 2006 and December 2010 and that $769,000 of that was his salary, legitimate stipends and gifts from parishioners or casino winnings.
Roughly $400,000 of the $1.16 million deposited into LeClair‘s personal account could not be explained. For the purposes of a plea deal, the Crown accepted that LeClair defrauded Blessed Sacrament of $130,000.
The Ottawa Archdiocese received a $379,000 insurance settlement for money that was misappropriated from Blessed Sacrament during the last five years of LeClair‘s tenure as parish priest.
查看原文...
Related
The diagnosed “pathological gambler” was released from jail on Nov. 9, nine days before he served two-thirds of his sentence and after the Ontario Parole Board granted him a temporary absence for good behaviour.
Since LeClair’s release, the Archdiocese of Ottawa has remained silent on where they will send the disgraced priest. Supporters of LeClair say they have welcomed him with open arms since his release and many would have liked him to return to their parish.
LeClair pleaded guilty on Jan. 20 to theft and fraud charges for stealing from the Blessed Sacrament collection plate, pocketing money paid by hundreds of couples for marriage preparation courses and bilking the church of even more money by writing himself and others cheques from the church account.
The charges were laid more than a year after the Citizen raised concerns about financial irregularities at the church in early 2011. At that time, LeClair had proclaimed his innocence.
“I’m a good person in Ottawa. I do good work,” he said in 2011. “The charities that I give to are numerous to no end. My books are open to absolutely anyone. I have accountants and I am accountable and I would never, never take money from my church.”
Financial irregularities were confirmed by a Deloitte Touche audit that found $1.16 million had been deposited into LeClair‘s personal account between January 2006 and December 2010 and that $769,000 of that was his salary, legitimate stipends and gifts from parishioners or casino winnings.
Roughly $400,000 of the $1.16 million deposited into LeClair‘s personal account could not be explained. For the purposes of a plea deal, the Crown accepted that LeClair defrauded Blessed Sacrament of $130,000.
The Ottawa Archdiocese received a $379,000 insurance settlement for money that was misappropriated from Blessed Sacrament during the last five years of LeClair‘s tenure as parish priest.
查看原文...
