US priest guilty of embezzlement

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A jury has convicted a Florida priest of stealing from his church, but ruled he embezzled far less than the $488,000 (£366,000) previously thought.

Fr Francis Guinan, 66, was found guilty of second-degree grand theft of more than $20,000 ($13,800) but less than $100,000 (£69,000).

Fr Guinan denied the charges, but another accused priest, Fr John Skehan, 81, had abandoned a not guilty plea.

Fr Guinan faces up to 15 years in jail and will be sentenced on 25 March.

'Stole from the community'

Fr Skehan, who had been at the church for 40 years, is set to be sentenced next month for taking $370,000 (£255,000).

The embezzling took place when the pair were at the St Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in West Palm Beach.

The prosecution told the court during closing arguments that Fr Guinan took money from a "slush fund" and also had records shredded and deceived his parishioners' trust.

Fr Guinan "stole from the community he was appointed to protect" prosecutor Preston Mighdoll was quoted as saying by the Associated Press (AP).

But defence lawyer Richard Barlow said that while the priests' actions may have been immoral, they had not done anything illegal.

Father John Skehan admitted his guilt last month

"The diocese, in their own rules ... gave the priest the unlimited discretion, without defining it, without restricting it, as to how you spend" the money, Mr Barlow said.

US law - the statute of limitations - prevents the priests being charged with thefts that occurred before 2001.

But the auditors say that up to $8m (£5.5m) might have disappeared over a period of 20 years.

It could be the biggest embezzlement case to affect the Catholic Church in the United States, the BBC's religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggott-Smith wrote last month.