Embezzled Church Money Used To Buy Breast Implants

POSTED: 11:08 am EST December 21, 2005

MEDIA, Pa. -- Instead of feeding children in third-world countries and fixing the leaky roof, a woman used money from First Church of Lansdowne collection plates to buy a shore home and breast implants.

"I was very dishonest and selfish," Colleen Lacombe, 34, of Drexel Hill, told Judge Robert C. Wright tearfully.

Lacombe pleaded guilty in September to theft by deception, and made full restitution of $325,000 to the church. Wright sentenced the mother of two to two years of house arrest Tuesday, followed by two years of probation.

Lacombe embezzled the money while handling finances at the church from June 2000 until January 2005, when the irregularities were discovered, according to court records.

A church co-worker told authorities Lacombe had packages delivered so often they became friends with the UPS delivery man, and took off in the spring of 2001 to have her breasts enlarged, saying it would cost "around $3,000."

A church elder, Don Lewis, showed pictures of needed repairs the church had been unable to make and compared them to photos of Lacombe's large, well-kept stone home, saying the theft shook the trust of some parishioners.

"I have been humiliated and very humbled," Lacombe said. She said she was grateful to family members who refinanced their homes to enable her to make restitution.

"I wish I could turn back the clock," she said, adding that what she "thought was important in life, wasn't." Turning to church members filling three rows in the courtroom, she said, "I hope you can forgive me someday."

Defense attorney Hugh McElhenney said Lacombe suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder and was undergoing therapy. "A lot of this was out of her control," McElhenney said.

Lacombe also must perform 750 hours of community service such as picking up trash along county highways. District Attorney G. Michael Green said prosecutors and church officials were satisfied with the sentence since the money was returned.

The Rev. Nancy Wolfe-Holt, the church's pastor, said the missing money had left the church unable to fund promised missionary programs from Chester to China, and now that it was returned, "We are trying to make good on every promise."