DENVER—A grand jury has indicted a pastor accused of embezzling money from an Episcopal church in Colorado Springs before breaking from it and joining another congregation.
Police said a 20-count indictment of theft charges against the Rev. Donald Armstrong was handed up Wednesday. Armstrong is free on $20,000 bail.
The indictment alleges that Armstrong used thousands of dollars from his church and a trust fund to pay for college for his two children from 1999 to 2006. Authorities have said Armstrong may have misappropriated $392,000 from the Grace Episcopal Church and St. Stephen’s Parish. He has denied wrongdoing.
Each of the 20 counts Armstrong faces accuse him of taking up to $15,000 or more.
Armstrong, 60, headed the congregation before he and his followers broke away in 2007 to affiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North American.
CANA said in a written statement that the organization is praying for Armstrong, his family and his congregation.
“It is with great disappointment that I learned about the indictment of Rev. Armstrong,” said Martyn Minns, a CANA missionary bishop. “While I know this is a painful time for both he and his wife, I also recognize that this is a major step in Rev. Armstrong’s journey to publicly prove his innocence.”
Colorado Springs police took financial documents and computers from Armstrong’s former church in November, after launching an investigation more than a year before.
After the search at the church in November, Armstrong’s attorney Dennis Hartley said investigators would find that there was no case against his client and that an Internal Revenue Service investigation had discovered no wrongdoing.
Hartley did not immediately return a call.
Armstrong was defrocked in 2007 after the split with the church and an investigation by an ecclesiastic court of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado. The diocese said Armstrong violated his ordination vows, and it accused him of financial misconduct.
“It is always sad when a member of the clergy is accused of misbehavior,” said the Rev. Marty Pearsall, rector of the Grace Episcopal Church. “It is especially difficult when that person is someone you know and have worked with over the years.”
The Pueblo County District Attorney’s office took charge of the investigation because former El Paso County District Attorney John Newsome recused himself. Newsome once belonged to Armstrong’s parish.
No court dates have been set.
