NEW HAMPSHIRE
CBS News
MANCHESTER, N.H. – A priest who was the former leader of one of America’s top clergy treatment centers was sentenced Wednesday to serve at least four years in prison for stealing $300,000 from a hospital, a dead priest’s estate, and the state’s Roman Catholic bishop.
Monsignor Edward Arsenault held several senior positions in the New Hampshire diocese from 1999 to 2009, when he became president and CEO of Saint Luke Institute in Maryland. He resigned in May of 2009 after allegations arose involving an inappropriate adult relationship and misuse of church funds.
Details of the thefts revealed Wednesday show a priest who billed the church for lavish meals and travel for himself and often a male partner. He was convicted of writing checks from the dead priest’s estate to himself and his brother and billing Catholic Medical Center $250 an hour for consulting work he never did.
“It’s criminal behavior. It’s disturbing behavior,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said. “These are thefts from a charitable institution by someone very high up.”
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