by Tom Gallagher
May 20, 2009
Like morning following night, incarcerated priests want out of jail shortly after they're incarcerated. Just ask Father John A. Skehan.
Risk of arrest and imprisonment, injury to self, family, friends, the church, one's reputation generally discourage people from stealing large sums of money. How may minority lay people are in jail and receive no special treatment? Thousands.
"Authorities say Skehan and his successor at St. Vincent Ferrer, Father Francis Guinan, collectively misappropriated $8.6 million from their church. A jury convicted Guinan on related theft charges and was sentenced last month to a four-year prison sentence." The Circuit Judge Jeff Colbath described Skehan's crime as "pure greed unmasked."
