Grimy Times Exclusive: Shamont Lyle Sapp, 50, received a 33-month prison sentence for mail fraud in a scheme to obtain money from four Roman Catholic dioceses through fictitious claims of child sex abuse by priests.
According to court documents, Sapp filed the fraudulent claims in pending bankruptcy and class action cases while he was a federal prison inmate serving lengthy sentences for ten Pennsylvania bank robberies he committed in 1995.
The claims, which falsely alleged that Sapp had been sexually abused as a teenage runaway in 1978-79, required extensive investigative and legal work by courts, special masters, and the four dioceses before being disproved and dismissed as groundless.
One of the cases, in U.S. District Court in Portland, directly incurred $70,000 in legal expenses by the Archdiocese of Portland, which Sapp must pay as restitution as part of his criminal sentence.
This is the second mail fraud case in Portland involving fictitious claims of child sex abuse against a former Portland priest. In 2005, Thomas Edward Smolka received a three-year federal sentence for concocting a similar scheme.
“Fraudulent claims in court, especially by prison inmates, are a serious drain on public and private resources and deserve significant penalties,” said United States Attorney Amanda Marshall.
The nationwide investigation of Sapp was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen F. Peifer.
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Key Facts
- State: Oregon
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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