“New Hampshire ex-priest gets jail time for thefts” & related article

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire priest who was the former leader of one of the nation’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 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.”

Arsenault pleaded guilty in Hillsborough County Superior Court Wednesday to three felony theft charges. He stole $104,000 from Catholic Medical Center in Manchester by submitting false invoices and working only a third of the hours called for in his consulting contract, which ran from March 2009 until June 2010.

Young said Arsenault stole $184,000 from then-Bishop John McCormack and the Manchester diocese by billing for meals at some of Boston’s finest restaurants. He also purchased cellphones and computer equipment, among other expenses. Young said he submitted fake invoices for about $15,000 in psychological counseling he never received.

Young said Arsenault stole $23,000 as executor of the Monsignor John Molan’s estate in 2010, including an $8,000 check he made out to his brother.

The investigation did not involve Saint Luke Institute, a prominent education and counseling center based in Silver Spring, Md., with sites in other parts of the U.S. and in Britain. The center treats priests with a range of mental illnesses and has played a key role in addressing the problem of sexually abusive clergy.

Before he was sentenced, Arsenault apologized to “the many people I have harmed, including the priests and the faithful.”

“Today is only the beginning of the consequences of my criminal behavior,” Arsenault said.

Arsenault was sentenced to four-to-20 years, including a deferred, two-year sentence that the judge has the option to tack on when Arsenault returns to court after the four years are up. He was also ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution.

As he was escorted from the courtroom, his hands cuffed behind his back, he paused briefly in front of the prosecution table and awkwardly extended a handshake to Young.

His attorney, Cathy Green, told Hillsborough North Superior Court Judge Diane Nicolosi, Arsenault “was the person who held the diocese together” during the priest sex abuse scandals a decade ago. She called his prison sentence “significant.”

Arsenault had been McCormack’s top lieutenant, handling both the clergy sexual abuse crisis and orchestrating the church’s new child protection policies. Bishop John Libasci, in a statement issued on behalf of himself and McCormack, said Arsenault stole more than money.

“Many of the faithful and former co-workers inevitably will be left with a profound sense of betrayal and mistrust,” Libasci said.

CMC President Joseph Pepe said the hospital is saddened by Arsenault’s criminal conduct, but relieved that Arsenault is being held accountable.

Young said the investigation began last year, after church officials and parishioners came to the attorney general’s office and said they suspected large sums of money had been misappropriated. She stressed that Arsenault cooperated fully and will continue to cooperate as investigators look into whether anyone else was involved.

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NH Priest Pleads Guilty To Theft

CBS Boston

April 23, 2014 3:30 PM

By Michael Rosenfield, WBZ-TV

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UPDATE: Former Manchester diocese official gets 4 years, ordered to repay $288,000

New Hampshire Union Leader

22 April 2014

By MARK HAYWARD

MANCHESTER – The one-time top ranking priest in the Diocese of Manchester, the Rev. Msgr. Edward J. Arsenault, was sentenced to four years in New Hampshire State Prison today by a judge who urged him to do good in prison.

Arsenault was also ordered to repay $300,000 in restitution to the Diocese, Catholic Medical Center and the estate of fellow Monsignor John Molan.

“I’m truly and sincerely sorry for what I did,” said Arsenault in Hillsborough County Superior Court-North. He paused to gain his composure when he offered apologies to “the priests and the faithful” of the Catholic church.

“I broke the law and I violated the trust of others,” he said. The one-time pudgy priest was trim and dressed in a crisp dark suit and tie. He carried a Bible with him.

Several key facts came out before Arsenault admitted his guilt:

• He was engaged in a relationship with Luke Parkin, who is identified on Internet websites as a gay composer and recording artist with nearly 70 albums to his credit. Prosecutors said Arsenault lavished Parkin with expensive meals, trips to locations such as San Francisco and New York, flowers, a cellphone, an extended-stay hotel in Massachusetts and even for medications.

Parkin has not been charged with any crime, said prosecutor Jane Young.

• The CMC theft is still part of a criminal investigation. Arsenault received $104,000 in consulting fees shortly after leaving the CMC board. He signed a contract with then-hospital President Alyson Pitman Giles.

Young said part of the investigation is who had knowledge of the contract. “Was this a valid contract or a contract created for reasons that were other than valid reasons,” Young said.

• The actual thefts amounted to $185,000. Much of the difference between the theft and reimbursement amounts involves questionable reimbursements that Arsenault has agreed to repay, Young said.

For example, he pleaded guilty to stealing $92,584 from the Diocese, but will repay $185,000.

• Arsenault’s sentence could be as long as 20 years, but most of the sentence is suspended or deferred. He could be eligible for halfway house or home confinement, Young said.

• Arsenault created fraudulent invoices of $15,000 from a Boston psychologist, Dr. Cristin Saffo, and submitted them to the Diocese for reimbursement. He was never a patient of Saffo’s, Young said.

For much of the 2000s, Arsenault was the right-hand man of former Bishop John McCormack. He investigated fellow priests on charges of sexual abuse, and he often faced the media.

“Monsignor Arsenault ended up covering a lot of the sexual abuse,” said David Ouellette, a Rochester resident who said he was a survivor of priest sexual abuse. “He ended up blaming the media, blaming the victims.”

But nearly two dozen people wrote in support of Arsenault.

Superior Court Judge Diane Nicolosi asked Arsenault to do good in prison.

“It strikes me you are going to state prison, where there are many people who have suffered and done wrongs and are in need of good help,” she said.

Previous story follows:
MANCHESTER — The right-hand man to former Manchester Bishop John McCormack was in a Manchester courtroom this morning and sentenced for stealing thousands of dollars from the Catholic church diocese, Catholic Medical Center and the estate of a fellow priest.
His sentence calls for the Rev. Msgr. Edward J. Arsenault III to serve four years in prison and pay restitution of $184,240 to the Diocese of Manchester and $104,000 to Catholic Medical Center.
As he was led away in handcuffs, Arsenault said, “I am truly and sincerely sorry for what I did.”

Arsenault III had indicated he would plead guilty to the three felonies, and his lawyer and prosecutors agreed to ask Superior Court Judge Diane Nicolosi for a four-year prison sentence.

Last May, the Diocese of Manchester announced that it had suspended Arsenault from his priestly duties, citing both illegal financial transactions and an “inappropriate adult relationship.”

Prosecutor Jane Young said the CMC theft involved a $200-an-hour consulting contract that Arsenault signed with former hospital president Alyson Pitman Giles.

A investigation into the CMC charge is continuing.

Bishop Peter Libasci has called a meeting for 2:30 p.m. today with any priest who wants to ask questions or voice concerns.

“Once the sentencing takes place, I will be in a position to share information about the investigation,” Libasci wrote to priests in a letter earlier this month.

Through much of the 2000s, Arsenault served as the right-hand man to McCormack, a role that put him before cameras and also involved the investigation and removal of abusive priests.

He left the diocese in 2009 for a $170,000-a-year job — running St. Luke’s Institute in Maryland, a clinic for troubled priests. The following year, the Vatican named Arsenault a monsignor at McCormack’s urging. Arsenault’s court file contains nearly two dozen letters from people vouching on his behalf, including former Attorney General Tom Rath, Portsmouth lawyer Peter Loughlin and the sister of the Rev. Msgr. John E. Molan, whose estate Arsenault stole from.

Catholic Bishop Peter Libasci today released a lengthy timeline of the Arsenault matter, including revelations that the Diocese first heard about allegations involving Arsenault in 2011. Outside auditors for CMC said there was nothing wrong with the consulting contract, and the allegation involving an inappropriate relationship appeared to be rumor, the timeline said.

But the Diocese contacted the Attorney General in 2013, once additional allegations – including blackmail – surfaced and investigators found financial improprieties.

“Many of the faithful and former co-workers inevitably will be left with a profound sence of betrayal and mistrust. They are very much the victims here,” Libasci wrote in a victim impact statement.

In a hand-written letter, Katherine Molan DeCourt said she has forgiven Arsenault. “Father Edward Arsenault is a good man and a very spiritual priest,” she wrote.

Others came from psychologists at St. Luke’s, nuns, New Hampshire Catholics, and employees of the Diocese. No letters were submitted by New Hampshire priests.

At least two writers stressed that Arsenault was under tremendous pressure as the priest-child sexual abuse scandal unfolded.

Sister Sheila Garvey of Hudson said Arsenault was met with criticism from the press and detractors of McCormack, who turned their anger and cynicism toward him.

The psychological burden “resulted in a burn-out that contributed, if not caused, his inappropriate behavior and criminal actions,” Garvey wrote.

mhayward@unionleader.com

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