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Thursday, March 28 2024 @ 04:03 AM CDT

Khristian Preachers - Liars, Vamps, and Thieves

Whited Sepulchers

By Hal Dardick

Fifteen months after abruptly resigning as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Joliet, Rev. James Radek on Thursday admitted to stealing money from the parish.

By agreement, Radek, 44, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft, and Will County Judge Robert Lorz sentenced him to two years conditional discharge, a type of probation with no reporting requirement.

Lorz also handed down a 180-day suspended jail sentence, which Radek would have to serve only if he does not comply with his conditional discharge terms, including a drug- and alcohol-abuse evaluation.

Defense attorney Daniel Purdom said Radek recently returned from a year in an out-of-state program "to address problems he was facing" and plans to soon return to "complete counseling to deal with these issues."

At one point during his nearly four-year tenure at St. Joseph, Radek told parishioners he was entering alcohol rehabilitation.

"Bishop [J. Peter] Sartain is saddened and disappointed by the failure of trust and the resulting impact on laity, especially on the parishioners of St. Joseph Church," said Douglas Delaney, spokesman for the diocese of Joliet. "It will be necessary for the diocese of Joliet to review all available and relevant information before a decision is made on Father Radek's future ministry and the issue of restitution to the parish."

Delaney said Radek, ordained in 1989, remains on leave from the diocese.

Mike Bruno, a former member of the church finance committee that first questioned Radek about parish finances, attended the court hearing. "Hopefully, it can bring closure to our parish and to him as well, and he can start getting back on a more productive path," he said.

Assistant Will County State's Atty. Neil Adams told Lorz that an investigation by his office and the Illinois attorney general turned up evidence Radek stole between $5,000 and $7,000 from the parish.

Purdom, referring to "personal agendas" among parishioners, claimed that nearly all the money was spent for legitimate church purposes. He said a misdemeanor conviction, for theft of less than $300, was appropriate based on an examination of church records undertaken by a forensic accountant for the defense. "Father Radek is a good person," Purdom said. "He was doing things for the parish, and sometimes lines get blurred."

Under an agreement between prosecutors and the defense, Radek was charged during the same hearing at which he admitted guilt and was sentenced. The quick process came 16 months after former Bishop Joseph Imesch was called before a Will County grand jury probing St. Joseph finances, according to sources who testified before that grand jury.

In May 2006, a month after Imesch testified, Radek resigned. He told parishioners his departure was "due to stress, accusations and the conflicts of recent times."

Nearly two years earlier, in August 2004, a special audit commissioned by the diocese determined church records could not fully account for nearly $44,000 in fiscal 2003 and 2004. The total included $19,000 in credit-card purchases made by Radek and up to $25,000 in money collected for weddings, baptisms and votive candles.

In a written explanation to Imesch, Radek said the audit overestimated the amount collected for weddings and baptisms. Radek also said he put the wedding and baptism fees in the church's petty cash fund to be used for daily church expenses.

But the church's finance committee concluded the audit was incomplete and up to $72,300 donated to the church or spent on the credit card was not accounted for. When Radek was asked in December 2004 about $700 in credit card charges at restaurants in Chicago, where he owned a condominium on Lake Shore Drive West, he presented a letter purportedly written by Thomas Scheier, whom he said was a "registered psychologist."

Radek took Scheier and his wife to dinner as payment for therapy the pastor received for "low self-esteem, anxiety, and recently, alcohol addiction," the letter stated.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation does not list Scheier as a licensed psychologist. Another state agency, the Department of Corrections, lists Scheier, 25, as an ex-con who spent several months in a boot camp for felony cocaine delivery.

Scheier, who testified before the grand jury, was on parole when the letter was written.

http://www.chicagotribune.com


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