NJ priest gets prison time for stealing $200,000 from his parish

From Roxbury, N.J., according to the Daily Record:

Suicidal and recovering from alcohol abuse, the former pastor of St. Therese Roman Catholic Church in Succasunna was sentenced today to five years in prison for stealing $200,000 from the parish.

After the Rev. Joseph Davis, now 65, fell under suspicion for theft last year, he tried to commit suicide and was in a coma for seven days. He has spent the past 16 months undergoing treatment for depression and suicidal thoughts at a mental health facility in Pennsylvania that is run by the Catholic church.

Davis, pastor of St. Therese for 24 years and a priest for 39 years, pleaded guilty in May in state Superior Court, Morristown, to stealing $200,000 from the parish over a 20-year period though authorities believe the theft is larger.

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