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BATON ROUGE, LA: Former Episcopal church comptroller surrenders
By DAMIANE RICKS
Advocate staff writer
BATON ROUGE, LA: (8/3/2005)--The former comptroller for St. James Episcopal Church, accused of embezzling more than $700,000, surrendered to authorities Tuesday accompanied by his attorney, police said.
Stephen Clarke Van Sickle, 57, 16959 Ticonderoga Ave., was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on one count of felony theft by embezzlement, police spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly said.
Van Sickle's theft was discovered in March.
Van Sickle admitted to stealing $2,900, repaid the church, then resigned his post, an arrest warrant says.
He later admitted, under the advice of attorney Thomas Damico, to stealing other funds as well.
Van Sickle admitted to taking the money for personal use "through a method primarily involving duplicate payments of payroll taxes," the warrant says.
The church first announced the misappropriation in an open letter dated June 24 in the July 1 issue of church newsletter, "The Messenger."
The newsletter said the amount was at least $100,000.
In the July 8 issue of "The Messenger," Associate Rector the Rev. Robert Odom said the community had expressed profound sadness over the theft, but also care and concern for each other, especially for Van Sickle.
The church performed an audit, which revealed Van Sickle stole $723,031.54 from May 1999 to July 2004, the warrant says.
Van Sickle said the total amount he embezzled was "substantially less than indicated on the audit," the warrant says.
Van Sickle was the church's comptroller for seven years, the Rev. J. Mark Holland, church rector, has said.
Damico did not return calls seeking comment.
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