While we’re on the topic of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and its sordid track record of retaliating against victims of sexual abuse, a review of Bishop Matthew Hyde’s criminal history reveals some interesting inflection points. That includes having been criminally charged for passing bad checks.
To be clear, all persons are presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. Further, the charges against Heyd were ultimately dropped.
That said, it’s important to recognize a key bit of context: Heyd bans people from all churches in the Diocese of New York and sends around defamatory emails with their photo to all the churches in the Diocese, based on nothing more hearsay from the buttheads with whom he hangs.
He does this without any sort of hearing, adjudication, arrest, or any other due process.
Yet Heyd managed to get himself elected bishop despite being criminally charged on October 31, 1991 (yes, Halloween!) with having passed a bad check on May 20, 1991. The case number was 91CR065541-400 and the charges were brought in the Guilford NC District Court.
While the charges were eventually dropped on January 9, 1992, we’re left wondering: How on earth do you get charged with passing bad checks? If something happened where you bounced a check, why wouldn’t you immediately take care of it?
Certainly, even with the passage of time, these issues would be show-stoppers for anyone seeking employment as a police officer, as the background check required for law enforcement does not have a ten-year cutoff, like federal government security clearances do.
And passing a bad check would certainly get you a lot of scrutiny if, for example, you worked in financial services or other industry requiring extensive background checks.
But, then, it looks like the district attorney ultimately dropped charges, either because there were issues with the underlying criminal complaint, or because Heyd eventually made good on the bad check.
As an aside, the address associated with the charges suggests that Heyd was a member of the Chi Psi fraternity at UNC Chapel Hill. Is there a connection? We don’t know. But our experience with clergy who were frat boys has been overwhelmingly negative, as many prove to be narcissists.
Meanwhile, we’re left asking: Isn’t due process a wonderful thing?
Now if only Heyd extended the same rights to members of his diocese.
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