Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2007 / Former St. Dunstan employee charged with embezzlement
Former St. Dunstan employee charged with embezzlement
The Michigan Catholic
Published December 21, 2007
Detroit — Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy on Tuesday charged Debra Ann Kilyanek of Garden City with embezzlement of more than $100,000 from St. Dunstan Parish.
 Wayne County Prosecutor's statement
Kilyanek was a parish administrative assistant before being dismissed earlier this year. An audit by the Archdiocese of Detroit revealed $111,700 missing from the parish. The archdiocese turned the matter over to the Garden City Police Department in September. The police allege Kilyanek charged her personal transactions to the parish checking account.
Kilyanek was arraigned on Tuesday at the 21st District Court in Garden City. Her preliminary examination will be Jan. 28.
The archdiocese also found St. Dunstan's federal payroll taxes had been neglected for five years. As a result, the parish owes $1.4 million in taxes and penalties.
The prosecutor's office also investigated Fr. Donald Demmer, who served as pastor of St. Dunstan until this summer. While no evidence was uncovered of illegal activity, the prosecutor made public "questionable, but not illegal conduct" by the priest. Their findings appear to support earlier concerns by the archdiocese about Fr. Demmer's failure to oversee St. Dunstan's budget, evidence of problem gambling, and problematic personal conduct.
In a statement from Archdiocese of Detroit Communications Director Ned McGrath, the archdiocese thanked the Garden City Police Department and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for their "deliberate and diligent investigation."
"At this stage in the legal proceedings, the archdiocese is limited in what it can or should say regarding the case," the statement read. The archdiocese will now review the findings of the police and prosecutor.
Senior priest Fr. Thomas Sutherland agreed to continue as temporary administrator of St. Dunstan Parish. Fr. Demmer does not have an assignment, but assists at St. Colette Parish in Livonia.
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