An embezzling priest, accused of lavishing stolen funds on a gay lover, walked out of a Queens courtroom yesterday with five years’ probation, forced restitution and a sermon from the judge.
Father John Thompson, 50, apologized for swiping thousands of dollars from the St. Elizabeth Parish in Ozone Park.
“I realize the seriousness of my actions,” Thompson told Justice Joseph Grosso in Queens Criminal Court yesterday. “I’m very sorry. I’ve lost a great deal of my life because of [this].”
Grosso admonished the longtime priest for his illegal deeds but also showed a great deal of compassion.
“It’s a great gift you get from God,” said Grosso. “It’s so important, not just to St. Elizabeth, but to everyone, everywhere. This is one of the toughest [cases] I’ve handled not because of what was done, but because of who did it.
“You know above anyone else how to use your talents. I really truly hope you take this and turn it and use it for the good of other people. The church really needs good priests,” Grosso said.
His last words to Thompson were, “Go in peace.”
And he did, moved by the judge’s words.
“I was very touched by what the judge said to me,” Thompson said outside the courtroom before scurrying off to let his lawyer read a statement.
Roland Riopelle said his client made a $10,000 payment to St. Elizabeth just prior to going into court and that he has the duration of his probationary period to pay the remaining $85,940.14.
He’s very remorseful, Riopelle said. But he was adamant that the accusations that Thompson was using the money to support a go-go boy toy were outright lies.
“That’s total baloney,” Riopelle said.
Barbara Samide, the Catholic-school principal who lost her job when she blew the whistle on Thompson, was also in court, and her lawsuit alleges that the fallen priest didn’t just siphon funds from the school. She accuses him of taking her to gay bars and physically and sexually abusing her.
But she understood the judge’s compassion.
“The judge is Catholic, and Catholics are supposed to show compassion for one another,” she said.
But she is angry – at Thompson and the loss of her job.
“This is the price that one must pay – to have vindication, to see justice served,” she said.