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LONDON (AP) — A priest who fled to mainland Europe after being convicted of stealing church funds has returned to England and turned himself in to authorities, British police said Monday.
Police had traced and made contact with 50-year-old priest Simon Reynolds over the weekend and that he had been arrested after giving himself up, Det. Chief Insp. Steve Whittaker said.
Reynolds became a fugitive Thursday when he failed to return to court after lunch while he was in the process of being convicted of four counts of theft.
Reynolds was found guilty of pocketing 24,000 pounds ($37,000), which was meant for wedding, funerals and graveyard monuments while he was the priest at All Saints Church in Darton, 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of London, between 2007 and 2013. He will be sentenced on Tuesday.
His church colleagues had issued statements imploring Reynolds to turn himself in.
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