CANADA
Ottawa Sun
BY MEGAN GILLIS OTTAWA SUN
Father Joseph LeClair going to jail for one year for what a judge Wednesday called a serious breach of trust by a pathological gambler.
Blessed Sacrament Church’s popular former priest pleaded guilty in January to fraud and theft charges related to a five-year, $130,000 fraud on his church.
A psychiatrist diagnosed LeClair, 56, as a pathological gambler, but not all of his thieving had to do with gambling.
For instance, cut himself a $5,700 cheque to cover the cost of a vacation. He also directed that fees for the church’s marriage preparation courses be paid in cash. Over the five-year fraud only $13,000 of what should have been $157,000 in revenue made it into church bank accounts; LeClair later admitted some of the money went to gambling debts.
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.