PORT ARANSAS
KRISTV6
June 27, 2018
A Catholic priest formerly of a parish in Port Aransas has been arrested on felony theft charges, an arrest affidavit showed.
Kris Bauta was arrested by Texas Rangers on Tuesday following a monthslong investigation and charged with theft from a non-profit organization.
Court documents showed that investigators were approached by the Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi (Church) back in December 2017 regarding Bauta. Church officials had reportedly accused him of continuous theft of a large sum of money from July 2013 to December 2017.
An investigation then found “numerous items that were reimbursed by the Church” which were “actually personal charges of Bausta.” Further, checks written from the Church were said to have deposited into Bauta’s personal accounts; while other checks designated for “Hurricane Harvey Relief” were also deposited into Bauta’s personal checking account.
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