A lordly and millionaire couple commits dozens of thefts from churches: they are only sentenced to fines

Les objets de l'église de Paris. (illustration) MAXPPP – Christophe Petit Tesson

Ce lundi 5 février 2024, un jeune couple châtelain de Montaudin en Mayenne a été condamné par le tribunal correctionnel de Rennes pour des dizaines de vols dans des églises.

A surprising verdict. This Monday, February 5, the Rennes criminal court sentenced two people, Justine and James, both aged 24 and 27 at the time of the facts, which date back to 2014. The couple had engaged in a series of thefts from churches in Brittany, Normandy and Pays-de-la-Loire, reports Le Télégramme.

Conviction and million

James and Justine essentially targeted chalices, hosts, ciboria, patens or tabernacle keys that they stole from the houses of God in order to resell them on the platform eBay or to a second-hand dealer friend.

In this case, there are no fewer than 73 seals, which  for the most part have been returned, explains the public prosecutor, quoted by the regional media. As a result, the courts were lenient with the couple: James was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros; As far as Justice is concerned, the latter was only fined 10,000 euros. This decision to sentence them to fines was chosen because their records had been clean for 10 years.

But the most surprising thing in this affair is the couple's lifestyle. Justine is the owner and inherited a million euros, which allowed her to become the owner of a castle. For James, his income would be "10,000 to 20,000 euros per month", particularly with YouTube renovation videos. Their financial future does not seem compromised.