WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com
WORCESTER— The Rev. Stephen M. Gemme, the 44-year-old former pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Northboro, pleaded not guilty today to charges of stealing nearly $240,000 from the parish and its school to support a gambling addiction.
Accompanied by his lawyer, Carol S. Wheeler, Rev. Gemme entered not-guilty pleas in Worcester Superior Court to five counts of larceny of more than $250 by a common scheme. Judge Janet Kenton-Walker released the Catholic priest on personal recognizance and continued his case to Oct. 7.
The thefts, more than $110,000 from a school account and in excess of $120,000 in parish money, allegedly occurred over a five-year span beginning in 2008, according to the indictments handed up Aug. 21 by a Worcester County grand jury. Rev. Gemme had been appointed to the parish in 2003.
Bishop Robert J. McManus removed him as pastor of St. Bernadette’s last year, after being advised by a member of the school’s advisory board of financial irregularities in a school account. The bishop said he met with Rev. Gemme the next day and the priest acknowledged a gambling problem.
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