Priest Accused of Stealing $120K From Church Funds to Purchase Drugs for Sex Parties

Now, this is a real shame. An Italian priest allegedly stole nearly $120,000 in church funds to supply his secret sex parties with drugs.

Francesco Spagnesi, 40, was arrested last week after authorities received a tip. Apparently, the priest’s roommate had imported a liter of GHB, a central nervous system depressant that is used as a “date rape” drug, from the Netherlands.

An investigation has been launched, and police are purportedly interviewing as many as 200 people who have allegedly attended sex parties hosted by Spagnesi within the past two years, Complex reported.

However, out of the large number, only 15 people have admitted to going to the parties.

Spagnesi—a Roman Catholic priest who was described by the Italian media as a “young, educated, and brilliant” priest—is currently under house arrest. He and his roommate have been suspected of using online dating sites to get people to come to the sex parties, where they allegedly sold the drugs.

Police raided the apartment and found what appeared to be homemade crack pipes.

After noticing the priest had withdrawn $100,000 euros ($117,500 USD) from the bank, a Parish accountant became concerned. Spagnesi was eventually denied access to the account, and that’s when he started to ask for money from parishioners by saying he was raising money for charity.

He was able to raise thousands from churchgoers due to his good reputation. Now he may face legal action from those who gave him money.

“The cocaine vortex swallowed me,” Spagnesi told reporters in a quote translated from Italian. “The drug made me betray my parishioners, it made me tell lies, it made me take actions that I am ashamed of.”

No charges have been filed against the priest as of yet, but his lawyer, Costanza Malerba, said he owned up to supplying drugs to people at parties and is expected to admit to his theft of the funds shortly.