Catholic priest embroiled in bizarre Super Mario Kart scandal
A Catholic priest who stole $40,000 of parish funds to fuel his addiction to Mario Kart and Candy Crush has been spared jail.
Father Lawrence Kozak, 52, pleaded guilty to siphoning the funds from St Thomas Moore Church in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
He was sentenced to 80 hours of community service and must write a letter of apology to his former congregation.
Kozak blamed his crime on the stress of the Covid-19 pandemic, losing his father and pain from a partial amputation of his leg after a car crash in 2016, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
A court heard how the priest used a parish credit card to drop tens of thousands of dollars on 'power ups' and other paid-for content in online games, such as Cash Frenzy, Willy Wonka Vegas Casino Slots and Wizard of Oz Slot Machine Game.
The games do not pay out real money for wins but require cash spends.
He also used the stolen funds to buy gifts for his niece including a chemistry set and an Amazon Fire tablet.
His spending was uncovered by an accountant reviewing the church's finances in 2022, according to an affidavit.
Kozak initially denied using the parish credit card for this game spending, but conceded he is 'not a details guy' so could have accidentally used it.
He told investigators he was receiving counselling for his addiction.
'I allowed my playing of games to get away from me, and due to lack of attentiveness failed in my responsibility to be vigilant over the administrative part of my responsibilities,' Kozak told the court.
'I am deeply sorry for the pain and difficulty that was caused to the parishioners of St Thomas More. No matter what, I should have been more attentive, and in that sense I truly failed.'
Kozak has since repaid the parish and has been barred from holding any positions of financial responsibility going forwards.
He was place on administrative leave and is subject to a canonical investigation, according to Ken Gavin, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
But advocacy group Catholics4Change rejected the apology as 'hollow'.
'Kozak's apology in court was hopefully serenaded by violins,' the group wrote.
'While the apology rings hollow, the real apology should be coming from Archbishop Nelson Perez who promoted and installed Kozak to pastor of St Thomas More in July 2020.
'With the current priest shortage and the 'have a pulse, get a parish' way that priests are promoted to pastors, Kozak's 2020 promotion to pastor at St Thomas More is surprising even in an Archdiocese that always manages to scrape the bottom of the barrel and have unsuspecting parishioners pay the consequences
'Kozak should have never been the pastor in the first place.'
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