AN IRISH priest accused of misappropriating millions of dollars from a parish in the United States yesterday said that he was truly ashamed of his actions.
Fr John Skehan (81), originally from Co Kilkenny, was speaking during an almost two-hour sentence hearing at a court in West Palm Beach, Florida.
His sentence was postponed as Judge Jeffrey Colbath said that he had too many things to consider to hand down a sentence yesterday. He said that he would issue his sentence “this time next week”.
During the hearing defence witnesses asked the judge for leniency on behalf of Fr Skehan. Fr Skehan faces up to 30 years in prison.
Fr Skehan began to cry as he took the stand to make his statement. “I have been devastated in so many ways and recognise the implication of the illegal acts I committed,” Fr Skehan said, according to reports in newspaper The Palm Beach Post.
“My remarks stem ... from the fact I know I have done wrong and for that I am truly ashamed. I committed these acts, this taking of money I wasn’t entitled to, even though I knew it was wrong.”
A spokesman for the archdiocese said in court that it was concerned for restitution rather than incarceration.
On the first day of his trial in January, Fr Skehan, who had been with the church for more than 40 years, admitted the charge of grand theft of over $100,000.
He was convicted of taking $370,000 between 2001 and 2006, the five-year timeframe for such times covered by the statute of limitations in Florida.
Another priest who served in the parish, Fr Francis Guinan (66), originally from Co Offaly, is to be sentenced for similar offences on Wednesday.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of grand theft of up to $100,000 and faces a sentence of up to 15 years in jail.
The retired priests were accused of skimming cash from collection plates and bequests to the St Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida, over a period of years and channelling the money into secret funds they used to fund personal costs.
A police affidavit presented during the trial stated that a forensic accounting firm hired to investigate the diocese accounts had found that $8,690,593 was misappropriated during the tenures of Fr Skehan and Fr Guinan.
The men are accused of using the money to fund lavish lifestyles and to pay for gambling holidays and property investments.
Fr Skehan is also understood to have purchased a collection of gold coins worth some $300,000. He owned a pub in Co Kilkenny, a cottage in Co Clare, a penthouse condominium worth $455,000 in Singer Island, Florida, and another in Delray Beach.
The thefts took took place over a period of years when Fr Skehan served as St Vincent’s parish priest and continued when Fr Guinan took over as pastor five years ago.
The Diocese of Palm Beach said that it had started investigating allegations of missing funds about April 2005, about a month before police launched their own inquiry following an anonymous tip.