Fr. Joe LeClair, the popular parish priest of Blessed Sacrament parish in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood, had been charged following a professional audit revealed more than $400,000 in unaccounted for funds for the years 2006-2011.
The Crown and defense agreed to a statement of facts that led to LeClair’s pleading guilty to fraud and theft of the lower amount, because they established the priest often paid for legitimate parish expenses through his own personal account. Collections from Masses often sat uncounted in the parish office or in the priest’s bedroom instead of being locked in the parish safe, the court heard. Financial controls were lax or non-existent.
About 20 supporters packed the courtroom in support of LeClair.
Though a preliminary hearing had been set to begin in this month and a trial by judge and jury set to begin Feb. 27, LeClair’s attorney Matthew Webber said the priest had admitted to the charges but not the $400,000 figure, for which “the paper trail is non-existent.”
During the sentencing hearing, scheduled to last several days, the court heard LeClair had built Blessed Sacrament “from the verge of extinction” to a thriving community “that just exploded,” made up of several thousand families with a volunteer contingent of more than 700 people serving on various committees and outreach ministries.
As the sole priest for the growing community, the court heard his job “increased in complexity.” LeClair also had a history of anxiety and depression and some alcohol abuse, his lawyer said. During this time, he also spent a great deal of energy counselling people during the “most trying aspects of their lives” in addition to his work as a parish priest celebrating Masses, weddings, funerals and baptisms. He also ran marriage preparation courses.
Webber said the forensic psychiatrist who examined LeClair after he was charged diagnosed him as “a pathological gambler, a psychiatric condition.” He also noted that after newspaper reports in an Ottawa paper, LeClair had admitted “to having a gambling problem” and apologized to his parishioners publicly, though he denied using public funds.
Among the volumes of evidence submitted to the judge was a volume of letters testifying to LeClair’s positive qualities as a priest. Several witnesses lined up to testify in his favour, including Hilliard Murdock, who offered the priest a room in his home when he was in the Ottawa area.
The Ottawa archbishop released a statement following the guilty plea, holding out hope for the priest’s future.
“Aware of his many talents and of his 25 years of effective pastoral ministry, we will work with Fr. LeClair in his desire to return to the exercise of his priestly ministry,” said Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, noting the archdiocese has supported the priest from the beginning in his recovery process.
“Despite this difficult decision affecting Fr. LeClair’s life, I know that he is relieved to have this painful moment behind him,” said the archbishop. “I share his desire, and that of the many people who supported him over the last two years, to move on and to look to the future.”
The archbishop addressed the strains in the Blessed Sacrament community that developed after the popular priest was criminally charged.
“Many people, with the best of intentions, had encouraged me, and those who assist me in my ministry, to deal with this matter outside of the criminal justice system,” Prendergast said. “For a number of reasons, including the need of our Catholic Church to be transparent about such matters and to resolve what had become a highly publicized matter, the decision was made to refer this issue to the police with the expectation that the case would be treated fairly and thoroughly.”