Trusted minister who fleeced his flock

Alert Focus: The Falling Away 2 Timothy 3:1-7 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH - By Nick Britten - September 9, 2006 - A church minister who befriended elderly parishioners before forging documents to inherit their property and possessions was given 240 hours community service yesterday. Tony Craggs appeared the caring and enthusiastic minister the village of Charlesworth had been crying out for.But behind the scenes he plotted to steal hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of property by ingratiating himself with his parishioners, waiting until they were close to death and signing their properties over to himself. He was caught when one of them, Margaret Shaw, made an unexpected recovery after suffering a stroke and a brain haemorrhage. When she returned home from hospital, where Craggs, 43, had given her the last rites, she found he had forged her will, leaving her house to him. Another spinster, Lillian Radcliffe, refused to allow Craggs near her home after she suspected what he was up to but, after she died, he appeared with documents giving himself power of attorney and possession of her house. Last night Miss Shaw said she was appalled that Craggs had not been sent to jail. "I wanted him to serve a prison sentence. I can't believe he's been let off," she said. "After what he's put me through, it isn't fair. "Craggs, who is divorced with three grown-up sons, arrived at Charlesworth Congregational Church, Derbys, six years ago. It was his first ministerial job and he appeared to be the "perfect appointment". He spent a huge amount of time with his community and was instrumental in setting up a shop for young people to meet in the village.But soon questions were being asked. He told people variously that he was a solicitor, a boxer, had been a pop star and had served in Bosnia with the Army. Questions were also raised about his sexuality and a close friendship he enjoyed with a minister in Stoke-on-Trent. When police raided his home in the village they found a document on his computer called "conman". It read: "A good conman takes a bit of the truth and a lot of lies and binds them together to pull the wool over the eyes of the ignorant. "They also found pages of Craggs' attempts to copy both women's signatures. He targeted Miss Radcliffe and Miss Shaw because they were both elderly and in poor health. …http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/09/ncraggs09.xml FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.