A church treasurer from Unity Township in Pennsylvania was arrested after police said he allegedly stole over $150,000 from the church for use on pornographic websites.
The treasurer of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Glenn Yothers, denied that he used the cash for sex websites, and said that he used the cash to pay church bills and for charity donations, according to WPXI.
However, Police say Yothers made numerous payments to a website called “Flirt for Free,” and said that the payments were sent to individual people, according to Trib Live. Church members said that the bills were repeatedly neglected, according to Trooper Robert Politowski, Trib Live reported.
“Yothers was asked if this was a pornographic website, and Yothers confirmed it was. Yothers stated he got to know some of these people well enough where he was trying to help those people,” Politowski said, according to Trib Live. “Yothers stated he started this with the best intentions because he wanted to help people, but it snowballed out of control.”
Church members initially brought up concerns when church bills were not being paid on time, if they were paid at all, Trib Live reported.
“At one point, the utilities of the church were shut off and the church almost shut down due to Yothers not paying bills,” court documents said, according to Trib Live.
The 56-year-old was the treasurer for St. Paul Lutheran Church for 12 years. The alleged embezzling took place over the course of four years; it began in 2015 and continued until 2019, according to Trib Live.
Yother’s charges included deception and theft by unlawful taking for allegedly writing off $150,606.
Cross and a stained glass in one of the restored chapels of the Cathedral of Chartres, 90 kilometers (55 miles) southwest of Paris. (Photo credit should read ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)
He told law enforcement officials that he had become addicted to the websites, according to the New York Post. (RELATED: ‘I’ll Never Be Those Women’: The Partners Of Porn Addicts Share Their Stories During Lockdown)
Yothers told police he was lonely at his home during the day while his wife was away at work and would go on “Flirt for Free” and other sites, Trib Live reported.
Yothers has a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 24 and is currently out on signature bond.