30-month prison sentence sought for $350K Winnipeg church fraud

Prosecutors are seeking a 30-month prison sentence for a former administrator at the Parish of St. Bernadette who admitted to defrauding the Winnipeg church of more than $350,000.

Leo McCaughan, 40, previously pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000.

McCaughan was the financial administrator with the Windsor Park-area churchbetween March 2009 and December 2014, when on 176 occasions he pocketed church funds for his own personal use.

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McCaughanwas part of the "pastoral team" responsible for bookkeeping and managing staff and assisted with church ceremonies and events, Crown attorney TerryMcCombtold court Tuesday.

"He took advantage of the high regard he was held in,in order to commit the offences,"McCombsaid.

McCaughan wrote 112 cheques to himself and recorded them in a church ledger as charitable donations or fees for services such as snow removal for the church.

On other occasions he tookmoney from church donation envelopes, including money earmarked for a church-building fund.

"The accused was on the fundraising team for the building effort," McComb said. "He would know better than anyone where the money was intended to go when he took it," McComb said.

McCaughan used the money to finance lavish international vacations, buy gifts for friends, pay off his mortgage and buy RRSPs.

When people questioned McCaughan about his new lifestyle, he claimed he had received an "advance" on an inheritance.

"He did it by choice," McComb said. "He had every opportunity to reconsider what he was doing and stop."

Defence argues 'exceptional circumstances'

Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds argued "exceptional circumstances" in the case should spare his client from serving jail time.

Simmonds said McCaughan's crimes were a response to being sexually preyed upon by a now ex-priest when he was in his late 20s.

"This was acting out, not so much against the church, but against the man who wronged him," Simmonds said. "This is not somebody who acted out without anger, though the anger was misplaced, I accept that."

Court heard McCaughan left the church when he realized an upcoming audit would uncover his crimes.

Since his arrest, McCaughan has been open with the church community about what he did, co-operated with authorities to recover and return most of the stolen funds, and has undergone extensive counselling, Simmonds said, noting the counselling was paid for by the church.

Simmonds provided the court with several letters of support, including one from the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, urging the court not to sentence McCaughan to jail.

A conditional sentence is not available to McCaughan under changes to the Criminal Code. Simmonds argued Judge Fred Sandhu could instead impose a suspended sentence and achieve the same result.

In a prepared statement, Richard Frechette, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, said the church was "deeply saddened" by the events leading to McCaughan's arrest, but accepted "what the legal system has determined as an appropriate response."

Sandhu will sentence McCaughan at a later date.