KENTUCKY: EPISCOPAL DIOCESE PRESENTS THEFT CASE AGAINST PRIEST

Officials want accused defrocked

By Frank E. Lockwood

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

April 20, 2004

The Rev. Chris Platt's finances were in chaos.

Divorced, bankrupt, unable to pay his bills, the Episcopal priest was struggling to get by on an annual compensation package of $79,000. The college chaplain and bishop's assistant couldn't pay his taxes without a loan from his employer. Unable to afford counseling, he had to ask the Lexington diocese to pay his psychologist's bills.

Despite the help, Platt spiraled out of control, eventually stealing almost $50,000 from church banking accounts, diocesan officials say.

Yesterday, a church tribunal began hearing Platt's case, reviewing dozens of suspicious checks signed by Platt, 56. The trial, the first of its kind in Lexington in at least three decades, pits Bishop Stacy Sauls against Platt, his former top assistant.

Church attorney Buck Hinkle told the court that Platt's 21-year ministry may have helped people, "but along the way something went wrong, seriously wrong. It cannot be overlooked. It cannot be swept under the rug."

Platt's attorney, Lee Van Horn, said his client committed no crimes and did nothing immoral. "If Father Platt had the good-faith belief that it was OK for him to write the checks that he did, that's not theft," Van Horn said. "It's our belief that, if this proceeding is fair and everyone does their job, he will be acquitted of the charges against him."

Diocesan officials have asked the ecclesiastical court to defrock Platt for committing a "crime" and for exhibiting "conduct unbecoming of a member of the clergy."

The panel, made up of three priests and two rank-and-file Episcopalians, has set aside the entire week to hear the case, although it could finish before Friday. Because it's a religious court, it has no power to fine or imprison the people it judges. But it could permanently remove Platt from the ministry.

On the trial's first day, the church made its case against Platt. Diocesan administrator Maggie Hall testified that Platt misused three separate church accounts: the bishop's discretionary fund and two accounts belonging to St. Augustine's Chapel, the Episcopal Church's student ministry at the University of Kentucky.

Platt allegedly wrote himself 19 checks worth $13,020. He wrote an additional 53 "for cash," checks totalling $13,930, Hall said. Another church check, for $250, was mailed to American Express, apparently to pay for Platt's private account, Hall said. In addition, Platt apparently used church money to make payments on a personal loan from BankOne, she said.

It's unclear what many of the checks were used for since Platt kept poor records and little documentation, Hall said. Some of the expenses that are documented are unusual for an Episcopal priest. Platt paid his National Rifle Association dues and purchased a book called Erotique with church money.

Yesterday afternoon, Platt told the Herald-Leader that the purchases were appropriate. Platt said the NRA membership helped him be a better spiritual adviser for UK police officers. The book, Platt said, was for a class at the chapel on art development and stained glass.

When confronted last year by Hall and diocesan treasurer Thomas J. Robbins about suspicious withdrawals from the bishop's fund, Platt got agitated, Robbins told the court.

"He was visibly upset. He physically was shaking," Robbins said of the March 2003 confrontation. "He did not provide explanations for the transactions."

An investigation turned up $48,084.25 in suspicious transactions, Hall testified. Platt paid restitution of $5,200. An insurance company paid the rest, $42,884.25, she said.

Yesterday, Platt confirmed that he had sent money to the diocese, but said it was simply a loan repayment.

Platt promised the rest of the story will come out once he is allowed to present his side.

"I think it'll get a whole lot more interesting," he said. "The truth will be told."

END