CONNECTICUT: Catholic Priest Busted For Embezzling $1.3M For RENTBOYS

Father Kevin J. Gray is under arrest in Connecticut for embezzling $1.3M from his parish, money he allegedly spent on luxury vacations and lavishly appointed rentboys.

Police have arrested a well-known Roman Catholic priest in connection with the theft of $1.3 million from the Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon parish over a seven-year period. Rev. Kevin J. Gray, 64, was charged today with first-degree larceny. Police said he used church funds to pay for hotels, restaurant meals, clothing and male escorts. Gray turned himself in to authorities this morning and is scheduled to be arraigned in Waterbury Superior Court today. Gray was placed on medical leave by Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell on April 15. The priest had told people in the community he was gravely ill. Gray was described as a popular priest in Waterbury, having served in the city for 26 years, first at St. Margaret's and St. Cecilia's churches before arriving at Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon. "We are deeply saddened by the events which have recently had such a profound effect on Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon parish," Rev. John P. Gatzak, director of communications for the Hartford Archdiocese, said in a statement today.

In March of this year, Gray presided over 40 couples (photo below) as they renewed their opposite marriage vows in a ceremony created by the Hartford Archdiocese's anti-gay Family Life Office. In January, the Hartford Archdiocese endorsed the anti-gay Manhattan Declaration, which calls on Christians to disobey all LGBT rights laws. The Hartford Archdiocese has also denounced same-sex marriage in DC and in April they claimed that out of all child molestation cases, "less than two per cent [are committed], allegedly, by Catholic clergy," therefore the problem is "societal" and not theirs.