NEW YORK: Prosecutors charge priest with taking parish money

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, April 07, 2009 [Episcopal News Service] The Rev. William Blasingame, 63, who resigned in January as pastor of historic St. Paul's Memorial Episcopal Church, Stapleton, on Staten Island, New York has been charged with stealing more that $84,000 from the parish.

According to the criminal complaint, the thefts began in January 2005.

Blasingame, who had been rector of St. Paul's since 1976, appeared in Stapleton Criminal Court on April 3 to face second-degree felony charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. He was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return to court on May 12.

Published reports here say that Blasingame took $84,537 from a discretionary fund and a building and grounds upkeep fund for plastic surgery, Botox injections and prescription drugs, among other things. The priest surrendered to authorities on April 3.

"We're monitoring the whole situation," Christine Evangelides Donovan, New York Bishop Mark Sisk's deputy for public affairs, told ENS April 7.

Since his departure from the parish in January, Blasingame has applied for a disability pension with the Church Pension Group, according to Donovan.

She said that the parish's senior warden contacted the bishop's office after being unable to get accountings for spending from the two funds. The Richmond County District Attorney's Office is continuing to investigate the case, she said.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.