BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
An alleged scam that has stung about 18 Tristate churches in the past three months could change the way some congregations respond to people seeking handouts.
"It's going to make everyone more cautious," Dr. Donald Gillis, director of missions for the Southwestern and Miami Baptist Associations, said Wednesday.
His group includes 54 churches, two of which were among those saying they were bilked out of a total of about $2,000 by an alleged con artist, Susan Lynn Williams. Ms. Williams, 49, was arrested Friday at her Hamilton home on theft-related charges. In lieu of $7,500 bond, she is being held in the Butler County Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
As a result of the financial loss, some churches could begin using a voucher system similar to those already used at other churches. Area businesses agree to provide food, gasoline or other necessities for the needy, and the churches agree to reimburse the businesses.
"I think that is the best that can be done to prevent something like this," Dr. Gillis said.
Police allege Ms. Williams told parishioners her parents had been killed in an out-of-state traffic accident and she needed travel money.
However, she allegedly also told other sob stories, said Butler County Detective Sgt. Mike Craft.
In at least one case, she said she had cancer, that her husband was beating her child and so she needed money to flee to her mother's house in Tennessee, said Detective Sgt. Craft.
"In reality, her kid is grown up and her mother is deceased," he said.
"She was very effective in playing the role as a traumatized person and really played on the hearts of the church people."
Con artists periodically hit churches because they know worshipers try to help those in need whenever possible, Dr. Gillis said, noting, "I was caught by a person a long time ago, and I even wrote a one-act play called The Pinch after that experience."
It happened around 1968 in Lancaster, Ohio. He and other churchgoers provided a meal and a bus ticket to a man who said he needed to head west. But someone spotted him hitchhiking east - and learned he had cashed in the bus ticket.
Despite such experiences, Dr. Gillis said, "I don't think it will dampen people's inclination to give to those in need - that's a part of their Christian belief. But I do think it will make them more alert the next time someone comes asking for help."
