Priest Used Parish Money For Hotels, Male Escorts

My, my! It seems the George "Rentboy" Rekers is not the only one who does not practice the anti-gay mantra that he preaches. Or the only closeted homophobe who likes to hire rent boys. As the Hartford Courant is reporting, Rev. Kevin J. Gray (pictured at left), an apparently well-known Roman Catholic priest, has been arrested for embezzling $1.475 million from his parish over the last 6 to 7 years. And what were some of these stolen monies used for? To hire male escorts, of course. Admittedly, I guess stealing and hiring rent boys is preferable to raping children, but the hypocrisy factor is still over the top. We have to also wonder how that much money could be misappropriated and no one noticed. It's mind boggling, but all too typical of those who make careers preaching one thing and doing something very different. Here are highlights from the Courant:
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A well-known Roman Catholic priest who stole $1.3 million from the Sacred Heart parish over seven years said he "had grown to hate being a priest" because the Archdiocese had given him the "worst church assignments" where he would "have to fix problems made by the previous priests," according to his arrest warrant.
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The Rev. Kevin J. Gray, 64, was charged with first-degree larceny. Police said he used church funds to pay for hotels, restaurant meals, clothing and male escorts. . . . Gray told police that he is gay and has a problem with the church's stance on homosexuality, the affidavit states.
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Gray said he started taking money once he was transferred to Sacred Heart in 2003 "because he felt the church owed it to him," the affidavit states. Gray wrote checks to himself, paid off his American Express bills, allowed two men to have credit cards in their names on his account and paid for various other expenses — including tuition to Harvard and rent in New York City for a man he met in Central Park — using the church's Webster Bank account, the document states.
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Gray stated that he would order male escorts from Campus Escorts in New York. He said he would have the escorts meet him in hotel rooms he had rented. Since May 24, 2003, $655,936.48 worth of checks from the church funds were cashed by American Express to pay for charges to Gray's account, the affidavit states. Charges to Gray's account between May 2003 and March 2010 included $205,679.78 to restaurants in New York, Boston and Connecticut, . . .
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Gray opened credit card accounts in the names of Manuel Paque, a man Gray met at a male strip bar, and Islagar Labrada, a man Gray met through an escort service, on Gray's own account.
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Between June 2003 and May 2010, Gray also used the American Express to rack up $80,612.24 in charges at clothing stores such as Brooks Brothers, Barney's and Armani, the affidavit states. He charged $19,450.11 to jewelry stores, including Tiffany, and spent $22,259.71 on Apple computers, furniture and electronics.
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In addition, Gray acquired more than $200,000 by signing an agreement with Wireless Capital Partners, LLC, out of Santa Monica, Calif. The warrant states that the church found out about the agreement when the company called them, asking about extending their lease.