Kansas Priest Pleads Guilty Today to Stealing $159,000 From Catholic Church

The figure read out in court was exact to the cent: $159,362.92. That was the restitution set for the parish of Cure of Ars Catholic Church in Leawood, Kansas, after its former pastor, Rev. Richard Storey, pleaded guilty on 27 October 2026.

For the parishioners left sitting in the pews he once led, the number is not an abstraction. It is money tied to their parish, their offerings, and a trust that the court case has now put into plain public language. The exactness of the figure, down to 92 cents, is part of why it has stayed with the parish.

Coverage of the plea ran on 28 and 29 October 2026, in the Johnson County Post and the Christian Post. The case was heard in Johnson County, where Storey had served as pastor of the Leawood parish.

Kansas Priest Guilty Plea: Amended Theft Charge and Restitution Figure Kept Separate

Storey pleaded guilty to an amended charge of theft of $25,000 to $100,000, a level 7 felony, according to the Johnson County Post. The restitution figure of $159,362.92 is a seperate figure, set to be paid to the parish, and the two numbers must not be merged into one claim.

That distinction matters, because the charge range and the restitution amount answer different questions. One describes the amended charge he admitted, and the other describes the sum the court set for repayment to the parish.

The Christian Post reported the plea on 29 October 2026, and the Johnson County Post reported it a day earlier. Both reports place the plea hearing in Johnson County and identify Storey as the former pastor of Cure of Ars.

Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Statement: Canonical Investigation and Adult Victim Allegation

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas issued a statement regarding the plea hearing. In that statement, the archdiocese said it had opened a preliminary canonical investigation, which includes an allegation involving "an adult victim".

No further detail about that allegation was given in the statement, and none should be added from speculation. What is known is only what the archdiocese itself chose to say: an investigation is open, and it includes that allegation.

Archbishop Shawn McKnight expressed sadness over the case in the archdiocesan statement. His response, as reported, was one of sorrow rather than explanation, and the statement offered no further comment on the allegation itself.

For readers following the figures, the case rewards slow reading. The amended charge describes what Storey admitted in the plea, the restitution describes what the court set for the parish, and neither figure on its own tells the whole story of what happened at Cure of Ars.

The case sits alongside other recent court stories involving churches and money, including Pastor Cristian Popescu $13 Million Fraud Charges: God Chose You to Invest, Prosecutors Say October 2026 and Archdiocese of New York $800 Million Settlement: 1,300 Abuse Survivors Approve Deal October 2026.

The wider question of how churches handle trust, money and accountability also runs through Latest: Churches Win Appeal Over Immigration Raids at Houses of Worship.

Cure of Ars Parish Leawood: What the Parish Waits to Learn Next

For now, the parish knows the plea, the restitution figure, and the fact of the canonical investigation. It does not yet know, from the public record in these reports, how the investigation will proceed or what it will conclude.

That waiting is part of the story, and it is where the human cost sits most plainly. A congregation that gathered week after week must now follow a legal and church process that moves at its own pace, with its own rules.

Will the canonical investigation bring the parish the fuller account it is still waiting for, and will the restitution, paid to $159,362.92, mark the end of this chapter or only the start of a longer reckoning for Cure of Ars?

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.