NEW HAMPSHIRE
WMUR
[with video]
By Adam Sexton, News Reporter
CONCORD, N.H. —The former leader of one of the nation’s top clergy treatment centers plans to plead guilty in New Hampshire to stealing at least $4,500 from a hospital, a deceased priest’s estate and the state’s Roman Catholic bishop, prosecutors said Monday.
Msgr. Edward Arsenault held several senior positions in New Hampshire from 1999 to 2009 before becoming president and CEO of Saint Luke Institute in Maryland. He resigned from that job in May when New Hampshire authorities said they were investigating allegations involving an inappropriate adult relationship and misuse of church funds.
The Attorney General’s Office said Monday that Arsenault had waived indictment and will plead guilty to three felony theft charges involving the bishop, the estate of a Manchester priest who died in 2010, and Manchester’s Catholic Medical Center, where Arsenault had done consulting work. Each theft exceeded $1,500.
The plea agreement calls for Arsenault to be sentenced to two consecutive sentences of 4-10 years in prison, with two years suspended from each because of his extensive cooperation. It will be considered by a judge at an April 23 hearing.
Arsenault’s lawyer, Cathy Green, declined to comment. Officials with the diocese and the hospital also declined to comment on the details of the allegations, and prosecutors provided little information other than saying each theft exceeded $1,500 and providing a timeframe for the thefts.
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