PENNSYLVANIA
The Evenig Sun
A preliminary arraignment was held Thursday for the priest accused of stealing more than $380,000 from his former church, St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Bonneauville.
Caesar A. Belchez, 52, was released on $50,000 unsecured bail. He faces third-degree felony charges of theft by unlawful taking, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, and access device fraud.
Belchez was assigned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg to the Bonneauville church from 2006 to 2011. During that time, police say he stole $384,750.76 from the church in cash, checks and credit cards issued to the parish.
His alleged activities were discovered by the priest who replaced him when Belchez moved to St. Joseph’s Parish in Dallastown as part of a regular change of assignments, according to the Diocese.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.