Interesting that this is the second occasion y'all've reported on which involved theft of huge sums to buy non-existent digital tokens. Really makes you wonder how prevalent this is.
I'm aware of other dioceses where the parishes' credit cards are centrally monitored and any large expenditure triggers a call from the diocesan office asking what's going on. Clergy who do something like replace a broken piece of furniture in the rectory get such calls when they spend a few hundred dollars on a new sofa or bed. I have no idea how these people who aren't even priests are able to steal six-figure sums on parish credit cards, in this case over just a few months time, without anyone noticing.
So this crime will have a profound and long term effect on her life? Fat Eddie Arsenault, ex Chancellor of Manchester NH diocese, embezzled 300K from various funds, served some prison time and moved on to a new career with a six figure salary. Some people just know how to walk between the raindrops.
The thing that jumps to my mind as to why they might ask to have mercy on her – perhaps she is the sole caregiver for a small child(ren.) and if she were put in prison, the children would be sent to foster care, or some other worse situation. I’m all for justice being served, but I can see a good use of mercy being if her going to prison would have terrible effects on innocent children.
While that is likely the rationale, I would caution against the assumption that the kids are better off with her than in an alternate situation.
A stable, two parent family, where mom and dad don’t embezzle hundreds of thousands from a church in order to buy worthless online points, might be a superior environment.
I agree the health and well-being of children should take precedence when considering the impact of sentencing, I just don’t think “with mom is best” should be the default stance.
Prosecutors have an old rule of thumb: bad women make bad law. Despite decades of feminism demanding that women be treated the same as men for all purposes, this rarely happens in the criminal justice system -- female criminals are almost always shown more leniency than men, by both male judges and male jurors. (Interestingly, women jurors are more likely to be tougher on them than men are.) Apparently, this criminal's diocese doesn't take the 7th Commandment (let alone the victimization of its parishioners) seriously, when it comes to crimes committed by a nun. Sickening. And I say that as a woman who was a prosecutor for decades.
Embezzling $200k to spend on TikTok coins? That’s not very skibidi of you…
Crime pays - criminal, civil, and ecclesial
Interesting that this is the second occasion y'all've reported on which involved theft of huge sums to buy non-existent digital tokens. Really makes you wonder how prevalent this is.
Now that the penalty is merely probation, please allow time for it to become much more prevalent 🤦♂️
What? Not even required to pay interest on that stolen $300,00 as part of the restitution?
I'm aware of other dioceses where the parishes' credit cards are centrally monitored and any large expenditure triggers a call from the diocesan office asking what's going on. Clergy who do something like replace a broken piece of furniture in the rectory get such calls when they spend a few hundred dollars on a new sofa or bed. I have no idea how these people who aren't even priests are able to steal six-figure sums on parish credit cards, in this case over just a few months time, without anyone noticing.
I feel like the emphasis on mercy completely overshadows the need for justice.
“Hunter Biden is the only federal felon who had a better week than Ms. Battocletti,” Warren added.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo burn
So this crime will have a profound and long term effect on her life? Fat Eddie Arsenault, ex Chancellor of Manchester NH diocese, embezzled 300K from various funds, served some prison time and moved on to a new career with a six figure salary. Some people just know how to walk between the raindrops.
https://nypost.com/2023/03/11/defrocked-ex-con-priest-who-stole-300k-heads-nyc-nonprofits-with-city-contracts/
https://www.unionleader.com/news/crime/former-manchester-diocese-official-gets-4-years-ordered-to-repay-288000/article_3ac96348-7e62-5abe-ae1c-320b77689163.html
The thing that jumps to my mind as to why they might ask to have mercy on her – perhaps she is the sole caregiver for a small child(ren.) and if she were put in prison, the children would be sent to foster care, or some other worse situation. I’m all for justice being served, but I can see a good use of mercy being if her going to prison would have terrible effects on innocent children.
While that is likely the rationale, I would caution against the assumption that the kids are better off with her than in an alternate situation.
A stable, two parent family, where mom and dad don’t embezzle hundreds of thousands from a church in order to buy worthless online points, might be a superior environment.
I agree the health and well-being of children should take precedence when considering the impact of sentencing, I just don’t think “with mom is best” should be the default stance.
Prosecutors have an old rule of thumb: bad women make bad law. Despite decades of feminism demanding that women be treated the same as men for all purposes, this rarely happens in the criminal justice system -- female criminals are almost always shown more leniency than men, by both male judges and male jurors. (Interestingly, women jurors are more likely to be tougher on them than men are.) Apparently, this criminal's diocese doesn't take the 7th Commandment (let alone the victimization of its parishioners) seriously, when it comes to crimes committed by a nun. Sickening. And I say that as a woman who was a prosecutor for decades.