California Pastor Stole the Whole Church
Pastor Dale Morgan
California Pastor Stole the Whole Church*
Monday February 12, 2007 9:01 PM
By GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer
RIPON, Calif. (AP) - For nearly a decade, members of Ripon's First
Congregational Church bared their souls to Pastor Randall Radic. But
clearly it didn't work both ways. There were certain things he wasn't
telling them.
That became obvious a year ago, when Radic pleaded guilty to betraying
his flock and secretly selling the church and its rectory out from under
them. He used the money to buy himself a brand-new black BMW and a
laptop - exploits he later chronicled in a cheeky, almost gleeful blog
about his double life as a sinner.
``We didn't know anything until we got a call from the bank that he had
bought a BMW,'' said David Prater, who led the church board during
Radic's tenure. ``He drove that car right down Main Street.''
Irate parishioners had been rooting for a long prison term of up to 16
months at his sentencing, set for Thursday.
But Radic's lawyer said last week that the 54-year-old former pastor,
who spent six months in jail awaiting trial, will not have to serve any
more time behind bars because he agreed to testify about the alleged
murder confession of a jailmate.
In the meantime, ownership of some of the church property is still tied
up in lawsuits.
``Most of the congregation, being a good Christian congregation, has
forgiven him. But there are still things happening to the church that we
can't understand,'' said Judy Edwards, who took over as pastor last
year. ``If the parsonage was stolen, why isn't it being returned?''
Radic was a respected figure in Ripon, population 14,000, a quiet town
of 1940s-era homes and tree-lined streets just off California's Highway
99, where 18-wheelers thunder down the San Joaquin Valley.
``The church was basically senior citizens, people in their 80s, 90s and
close to 100,'' Prater said. ``He was their favorite son.''
Radic's pulpit was in a wooden, 90-year-old chapel, and he lived in a
church-owned house a few blocks away.
``This is a town with a lot of faith,'' said Navid Fardanesh, president
of the Ripon Chamber of Commerce. ``People had a lot of trust in him,
and unfortunately he took advantage of the situation.''
First, Radic faked documents giving him possession of the parsonage, and
used the property to take out about $200,000 in personal loans,
prosecutors said. Then he forged papers saying he had the power to sell
the church, and sold it to a couple for $525,000.
After investigators began inquiring about the $102,000 BMW, Radic fled
to Denver. Prosecutors coaxed him back, and he was arrested in 2005.
It was in jail that Radic met Roy Gerald Smith, a sex offender awaiting
trial in the 2005 slaying of a woman in a death penalty case. In Radic's
blog on a now-defunct Internet site, the former pastor suggested that as
he gained Smith's confidence, Smith confessed.
Radic soon struck a deal: He would plead guilty to embezzlement and be
released from prison. And prosecutors would drop nine other felony
charges in exchange for Radic's testimony.
Since Radic was not Smith's pastor, the inmate's incriminating
statements are not protected by the usual confidentiality rules
involving members of the clergy, Radic's lawyer Michael Babitzke said.
As he awaited sentencing from the comfort of home, Radic started
blogging about his personal life. He tried to solicit a literary agent
for a tell-all book he called ``SNITCH'' and spelled out the details of
how he fleeced his flock.
Describing the proposed memoir as ``a kind of new Bible,'' Radic wrote
that ``true-crime shall have a container in which to wallow, a boat
which, when it embarks, will traverse the major oceans. Like an esoteric
prayer, a Catholic confession, a Gregorian chant or a murderer's
insouciance, it will hum a tune inside one's bones.''
Radic, who still lives in Ripon, did not find a buyer for ``SNITCH,''
but he did sign a deal last month to publish a book called ``The Sound
of Meat,'' billed as a ``(fairly) truthful'' memoir.
``So, you really want to know which camp I belong to ... right? Saint or
... Sinner?'' he wrote on his Web page, which features grainy shots of a
nearly naked woman and a portrait of Radic smoking and drinking. ``The
truth really is a lot more complicated. It leads down the winding paths
of the human heart and challenges anyone who follows to defy it.''
The church got its title back last year, and parishioners have been able
to worship there throughout the ordeal. But the parsonage is still owned
by a real estate investor who bought it from Radic. The new pastor,
Edwards, lives in a motor home.
Radic still faces a number of lawsuits - by the couple who bought the
church, the title company that insured loans on the parsonage, the real
estate investor and the former notary public who signed off on Radic's
fake deed for the parsonage.
But criminal proceedings against him appear likely to end when he is
sentenced.
``He's very remorseful and regretful about the situation,'' his lawyer
said. ``I think he made some egregious mistakes. But in an imperfect
world ... people behave imperfectly.''