Gambling Addiction: anyone, even a Priest

Over a ten year span, a parish priest took about $650,000 from his church and gambled with it in the casinos of Las Vegas.  Msgr. Kevin McAuliffe's pathological gambling addiction led to his arrest, a plea of guilty on federal charges and, now, a sentence of three years in prison.  In spite of the addiction along with diagnoses of social anxiety disorder and depression, and pleas for mercy from the congregation, a U.S. District Judge noted, among other things that McAuliffe, age 59, had falsified church records to cover his thefts from church accounts, gift shop, mission fund, and collection baskets. McAuliffe had a salary of $70,000 per year and, according to prosecutors averaged taking $6,700 a month from the church. The judge handed down a 37-month prison sentence and ordered repayment of the monies taken. In addition, he was ordered to stay away from casinos and get counseling upon his release. The conviction and sentence have made headlines all over the United States.
The reminder here is that no one is safe from the effects of such addictions. In an interesting legal note, two doctors had diagnosed the addiction.  One, who testified as an expert witness for the defense, explained that his diagnosis of pathological gambling, but the court deemed that to be 'subjective'.