ChristianShame.com

WESTERLY –– For years, Angelo J. Gaccione was a trusted member in his Stonington, Conn., parish.

Gaccione, 77, was one of several volunteers who counted the collections at St. Michael Church in the Pawcatuck section of Stonington and deposited the money at the Washington Trust Company on Westerly’s Broad Street.

But the police said that on Jan. 18, Gaccione, of 1 Haswell St., Apt. 1, in Westerly, stole $7,069 from St. Mary Church, also of Stonington.

Gaccione, the police allege, grabbed a deposit bag that a member of St. Mary Church had placed in the bank’s overnight drop box, but the drop box had not fully closed. The police said Gaccione took $988 in cash and $6,081 in checks. (The only apparent connection between Gaccione, from St. Michael’s, and St. Mary’s is that both churches deposit their collection at the Westerly bank.)

Gaccione, who has since resigned from his volunteer position at St. Michael’s, was identified by bank employees and his priest on the bank’s surveillance recordings. According to the police, the video shows Gaccione apparently “concealing something” before he “shuts the deposit door and walks away quickly.”

He was arrested on Feb. 11 and released on personal recognizance after an initial appearance the next day in District Court. A felony screening, to determine what charges –– if any –– will be filed in Superior Court, has been scheduled for March 4.

Reached by phone at home, Gaccione hung up on a reporter.

A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.The police recovered the checks, which have since been deposited in St. Mary’s account, said the Rev. Dennis Perkins, St. Michael’s pastor who is temporarily filling in at St. Mary’s. The checks were made out to the church and stamped “for deposit only,” Father Perkins said.

The $988 in cash is still missing.

According to the bank’s surveillance system, Rosemary Riley, a volunteer counter at St. Mary’s, deposited that parish’s Saturday and Sunday collections on Jan. 18 just after 11:30 a.m.

Gaccione arrived at the bank at about 12:10 p.m. to make his church’s deposit. St. Michael’s deposit — between $7,000 and $8,000 — went through, Father Perkins said. But not St. Mary’s.

Father Perkins said a church secretary noticed the church had not been credited for the deposit on Feb. 6.

“It’s a sad situation because it does involve someone in this parish,” Father Perkins said. “And it’s important that we do keep him and his family in our prayers.”

Gaccione is still a member of the St. Michael’s parish, “but he is not handling funds on behalf of the church,” Father Perkins said.

“We try our best to make sure that we have all the bases covered when it comes to handling the money,” said the pastor, who worked as an accountant before becoming a priest.

Church officials are reviewing the current protocol, he said.

CITED FROM:

http://www.projo.com/news/content/STONINGTON_CHURCH_THEFT_02-20-09_NDDCR17_v14.3bb266d.html