Parents File Suit Against Saint Vincent de Paul School, Church

DENVER (CBS4) - Two parents of students at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School have filed a lawsuit against the former pastor who oversaw the church and school claiming Father Andrew Kemberling engaged in "willful financial misconduct" and the Catholic Archdiocese did little to stop Kemberling.

"The harm caused by one person was sheltered, obscured, facilitated and ultimately ratified by the Archdiocese," wrote parents David Wolf and Andrew Davis in their February 14 lawsuit.

They accuse Father Kemberling and his former business manager of civil theft, negligence, fraudulent nondisclosure and civil conspiracy.

"Father Andrew caused millions of dollars in parish funds to be mishandled," wrote the parents. CBS4 was unable to reach Wolf and Davis for further comment and their attorney did not return calls from CBS4.

Kemberling took over the parish and school in 2014 when it had $2.2 million in assets. By the following June, those assets had decreased by $781,000. And by late 2015, nearly all of the assets were gone.

The parents accuse Kemberling of then raiding restricted financial accounts to make up for shortfalls. In one case, they say he shifted $316, 800 school registration fees and tuition payments to the general operating fund. In another case, they say Kemberling took $93,000. from a teachers endowment fund to cover payroll. And in a third case, Wolf says he had donated $223,000 to help fund the education costs of four siblings whose parent had died of cancer. Wolf says Kemberling "drained the account down to $12,500, without approval from Mr. Wolf, and without Mr. Wolf's knowledge or consent."

According to a meeting transcript obtained by CBS4, Father Randy Dollins, Vicar General for the Archbishop, told school parents in September 2019, "the Archdiocese failed St. Vincent De Paul, I offer my apology. I'm sorry."

The school's principal, Sister Dominic Quinn, notified the Archdiocese five times about the financial irregularities under Kemberling's regime: first in 2017, again in 2018 and twice in 2019. Her last warning to the Archdiocese was in April 2019. Four months later, on Aug. 11, 2019, the Archdiocese notified Kemberling he was being relieved of his post.

However, parents note that not only did the Archdiocese not do enough, on Oct. 19, 2018, the Archdiocese gave Kemberling a letter of commendation for improving internal controls.

"We tried to intervene," Dollins told parents, "we obviously didn't intervene sufficiently. For being a really poor manager, he lost his job."

The September 2019 meeting transcript shows Marc Bradac, who was chair of the Parish Finance Council, told fellow parents at the meeting that "internal controls were flatly ignored" and that Kemberling "misappropriated restricted funds."

One audience member at that September 2019 meeting weighed in, "in the private sector, people who cook the books go to jail."

The transcript shows another member of the parish finance committee said there was no reason to believe Kemberling engaged in fraud but took part in "gross mismanagement" by overspending on yearly maintenance.

In their lawsuit, Wolf and Davis say as a result of the financial crisis, the school had to defer staffing needs, crucial supplies couldn't be purchased and the "educational mission imperiled."

Kemberling remains a priest but in a lesser role as a parochial vicar at St. Francis Cabrini parish in Littleton. CBS4 attempted to contact Kemberling on Tuesday but was told he would not be at work.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Archdiocese released the following statement regarding Kemberling and the lawsuit:

"The Archdiocese of Denver is working with the current Pastor to gain a better understanding of the situation at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Parish and School by means of an independent forensic audit. While we understand that parishioners have had concerns that need to be addressed, we find the allegations in the lawsuit to be overstated and misleading. We are confident that the results of the independent audit will reveal the truth. Based on all of the information provided by the parish and available to the Archdiocese, we also have no reason to believe that the former pastor, Fr. Kemberling, who is accused of mismanagement in the lawsuit, took any money for personal gain."