Crime & Safety

Former Church Choir Director Gets Probation

The former employee at Calvary Baptist Church milked an unguarded safe for about $20,000.

A former choir director at a Temecula church got probation and work release for embezzling about $20,000.

Jared Lee Burkholder, 34, of Murrieta was sentenced to three years probation and 180 days jail time, which he will serve in a work release program, according to court records. He was also ordered to pay back the money he stole from his employer, Calvary Baptist Church.

Burkholder worked for the church for a decade and ran a ministry for young families, according to the Press-Enterprise.

Burkholder sent a letter to church leaders asking for forgiveness, which was granted, according to the record.

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“He did come before the congregation and he did confess his sins,” Pastor William Rench told the Press-Enterprise.

Burkholder, who is his son-in-law, started repaying the money and sought counseling from a pastor at another church. “He, up to this point, seems to have real genuine remorse,” Rench told the paper.

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