SIMI VALLEY : Accountant Testifies in Piroli Trial

An accountant testified Wednesday he found no evidence of wrongdoing by Father David Dean Piroli in an analysis of cash records at the priest’s two former parishes.

Under cross-examination by Piroli’s attorney, accountant Daniel McCarthy admitted he found no proof that the priest had mishandled money at St. Peter Claver Church in Simi Valley and Sacred Heart Church in Saticoy.

Piroli, 47, was indicted on two counts of grand theft after police found $10,000 in cash in his church car and parishioners found another $50,000 in cash, checks and collection envelopes in his bedroom and office at St. Peter Claver.

The collection money “could have been stolen by anyone who had access” to places where cash was kept at the Simi Valley church, McCarthy testified in Ventura County Superior Court.

The parish had risky security for collection money and unusual bookkeeping practices when Piroli was assistant pastor there from 1990 to 1992, McCarthy told jurors.

McCarthy had already testified that Piroli’s bank accounts swelled and the churches’ cash deposits shrank while he was serving at each parish.

But under questioning by defense attorney Douglas Levinson, McCarthy conceded that he never saw ledgers or conventional cash records other than bank statements while doing his analysis.

McCarthy also admitted that his analysis could be thrown into doubt if large amounts of cash were taken from collection money before it was counted and deposited in the bank.

Father James McKeon, former pastor and supervisor of Piroli at St. Peter Claver, testified that he would sometimes take more than $150 at a time out of collection money to pay for expenses and notify the parish money-counters.

But under further questioning by Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Peace, McCarthy said the drop in cash deposits at the bank would not reflect someone taking collection money before it had been counted.