NYC Teacher Charged in Fake Katrina Trip (went to religious conf instead)

[UpInArms]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2006/mar/28/032808003.html

NEW YORK (AP) - A high school teacher was arrested Tuesday for telling school officials he was being deployed to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts when he actually traveled to Brazil for a religious conference, investigators said.

James Thomas, who is also the pastor of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx, was charged with forgery, false records and larceny.

He was paid $828 in teachers' salary for four days in October during which he claimed that he had been on active military duty in New Orleans, according Richard Condon, the special commissioner of investigation for the city schools.

Thomas, a special education teacher in the Bronx, allegedly faked deployment documents from the Air National Guard, where he was a lieutenant colonel.

He retired from the Air National Guard following the incident, said Maj. Emily Desrosier, a spokeswoman for the 106th Rescue Wing. The teacher had served with the unit for 28 years as chaplain.

...more...

edited to add the following:

What part of

Thou shalt not lie

Thou shalt not steal

did this "chaplain" not understand?

[Dogmudgeon]

1. That's just stupid.

A chaplain, no less. He shoulda known better.

--p!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. If I hear any more outta this 'values crowd'...

I just might puke.

[brentspeak]

18. Evangelical Lutheran is hardly "values crowd"

I don't know why this pastor did this, but the ECLA is far removed from the finger-pointing denominations.

[Initech]

3. What would Jesus lie about?

[Wickerman]

4. Very sad - for the record, the ELCA is not a fundy right group

this guy is just a moron.

[UpInArms]

7. thanks for the info on the ELCA - I am just appalled

when a "gawdly" man thinks it's just fine to lie, cheat and steal - and he's a pastor and a chaplain and someone supposedly teaching our children!

$828 is a lot of money for 4 days (jmho - much more than I make) and that money comes from taxpayers - he ripped off everyone.

[Wickerman]

12. gotcha

a general ftr, not meant to be pointed at you. I am ELCA and was trying to head off respondents assuming the ELCA was the same as those freaky right wing circus churches.

:hi:

This is, regardless of religion or affiliation, a very bad man.

[RaRa]

11. You're right

I grew up in ELCA, but you never know about it's members. My sister-in-law is active in her ELCA church's sunday school and she was at a meeting recently where she was asking about how to teach the Noah's ark story. She was talking about how it's ok to just teach it traditionally to the really little ones, but what about the second graders? She was trying to get at how to teach it to kids who are starting questions things and aren't going to necessarily swallow that story literally. Well, the folks at the meeting were silent, perhaps perplexed and one mom said you just teach it literally of course because "God can do anything". My SIL just looked at the pastor who kind of coughed and somehow tried to smooth over things.

And FYI, this was in Chicago's northshore neighborhood where people are very rich and educated.

[TAPat]

5. Give 'em an inch.... nt

[NoAmericanTaliban]

6. In his mind the sin is getting caught

[EST]

8. I don't see where they reported that he was a republican.

Silly me! What am I saying?! Of course he is; the people of principle hang out over here, the crooks, over there.

More and more, this becomes the case, as it should be.
(If it seems I don't care for crooks, liars, users and abusers of all types, it's only because it's true.)

[silverweb]

9. ROFLMAO!!

I love it when these miserable hypocrites are exposed!

:rofl:

[Betsy Ross]

10. Guess he couldn't get the school district to pick up his

airfare too. Many people used Katrina for personal gain, but using it for a religious conference definitely takes the cake.

[WhiteTara]

13. If he's not a repuke

he should join their party. They are like peas in a pod.

[uppityperson]

14. Wonder if he showed pictures of Brazil, claimed LA/MS?

maybe the fact that he prayed for Katrina survivors makes it ok? Idiot.

[karlrschneider]

15. He sure went to a lot of trouble for 800 bucks...how weird is that?

Maybe he should've stuck to the shoplifting scam...
:eyes:

[salin]

16. How odd... why not just take a personal days?

Why lie? Why be ashamed of taking time for a religious conference... unless of course one just doesn't want to count the time as part of one's personal/sick days - which is a form of stealing, if one then uses all of one's days by the end of the year.

[progressoid]

17. Probably used all his personal days helping the homeless in

Atlantic City or the preaching to the needy in the Cayman Islands.

[kestrel91316]

19. Is this guy by any chance a REPUBLICAN?????