Church treasurer going to prison in theft of ‘mountain of money’

Judge also orders lifelong restitution

OTTAWA • A retired federal government accountant has been sentenced to a two-year prison term for stealing “a mountain of money” from an Ottawa church.

Ontario Court Justice Matthew Webber also imposed a lifelong restitution order on Barton Burron, 73, the former treasurer and bookkeeper at Saint Luke Lutheran Church in New Edinburgh.

Burron was convicted earlier this year of fraud over $5,000. Court heard that during a five-year period, the trusted church official poured $607,725 of Saint Luke’s money into his own high-risk real-estate scheme.

The disastrous redevelopment venture collapsed in 2013, and all of the church’s money was lost.

“There is no escaping the fact it was a mountain of money you took, a mountain of money you took from those people,” Webber told Burron during his sentencing Friday. “You will be paying it back for the rest of your life.”

The judge ordered Burron, a former member of the Auditor General of Canada’s office, to pay $1,000 a month for the rest of his life as part of a $490,000 restitution order.

“I know it’s going to be a hardship, but it’s appropriate that you suffer that hardship and give back to the church as much as you can,“Webber said.

Asked if he understood the conditions of his sentence, Burron said, “Yes I do, and I’m sorry what happened.”

The courtroom was filled with parishioners from Saint Luke’s, including church pastor Rev. Bryan King, who called the sentence appropriate. “I think it was fair to both sides,” King said.

Webber said a prison term was required to deter others, noting most major breach of trust cases involve well-educated people with previously unblemished characters — people just like Burron.

“The congregation felt blessed to have such a talented man stewarding their assets,” he said, “and it was only as direct result of the completeness of this trust that he was able to continue his behaviour for more than four years.”