Catholic Charities Figure Surrenders in Fraud Case; Gifts to 19-Year-Old Cited

The former director of Catholic Charities of Orange County, sought on charges of embezzling $43,000 from the group, surrendered Tuesday as allegations surfaced that he had impersonated a priest and gave most of the missing money to an emotionally troubled 19-year-old man.

Adair Allen Simmons, 37, returned voluntarily from Florida and was arraigned Tuesday in Orange County Municipal Court. Simmons was known as “Brother Andrew” in Orange County, where he told church officials he was trying to establish a religious order called the “Franciscan Brothers of Mary, Queen of Peace.”

Simmons pleaded innocent to one count of embezzlement and was released on $10,000 bail.

Asked by the judge to provide a “thumbnail sketch” of the state’s case against Simmons, Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrew Gale told the judge that Simmons rose from a low-level employee of Catholic Charities to become the organization’s director. Using several checking accounts, Gale said, Simmons embezzled the $43,000 and “used it to his own personal benefit.”

A report detailing the criminal investigation by the district attorney’s office and obtained by The Times provides a fuller version of the case against Simmons. According to the document, the case began when the 19-year-old went to Catholic Charities in early 1985 with what the report termed “emotional problems.”

Simmons had been hired on the strength of his resume, which listed two master’s degrees--in social work and education--and extensive administrative experience. However, church officials did not verify the entries on the resume, the report said.

When the young man first went to Catholic Charities, Simmons was “involved in the counseling of individuals with mental or emotional problems.” The name of the young man is withheld by The Times; authorities said he has not been charged with any crime.

Although not part of a recognized order, the report said, Simmons “wore a Roman collar and a black suit that resembled a priest’s.”

Simmons, “representing himself as a priest,” according to the report, “maintained a relationship both professional and social” with the young man. No allegations of sexual intimacy with the young man were contained in the document.

Simmons said Mass at a small chapel in his residence and would hear the young man’s confession, the report says. He told the young man that he (Simmons) was “going to be made a monsignor in Rome,” the report said, and made plans to take him to the ceremony.

After Simmons was appointed executive director in late 1985, the report said, he gained authority to write checks on three accounts, including an emergency account that required only his signature.

“Between January, 1986, and July, 1986, Simmons began to write checks on the emergency account to the benefit of” the young man “and himself,” the report said.

Among the report’s list of 15 Catholic Charities checks allegedly drafted illegally by Simmons, three are made out to the young man, totaling $2,000. Two of the 15 checks were made out to USC and totaled $2,300. They went to pay the young man’s tuition.

One check, made out to IBM, was for a computer purchased for the man, according to the report, and another for $17,930 went to buy a Toyota Celica convertible for the young man. Two more checks totaling almost $7,500 were for a June, 1986, cruise that Simmons took with the young man.

In addition, the report said, Simmons “gave him Catholic Charities money directly” and access to two credit cards that were billed to the organization.

Church officials began an internal investigation in August. On Dec. 15, the report said, “Simmons attempted suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills and was admitted to St. Joseph Hospital.” Three days later, he resigned as executive director after being confronted by church officials.