A fake pastor who acquired $41,000 in donations for terminally ill children but gave away only $850 failed to pass on the money because of poor management rather than selfish intent, his lawyer says.
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Christopher Ellingburg, formerly of Harcourt and Kennington, is pleading guilty to obtaining financial advantage by deception in relation to offending from 2014 to 2016.
Prosecutor Allan Sharp told Bendigo Magistrates' Court Ellingburg set up tables advertising he was raising funds for terminally ill children - often with real photos of such children - in busy places such as supermarkets and events.
But applications to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission in 2013 and 2014 to register Ellingburg's purported charity, Grace Christian Centres of Australia, were refused, and it was never authorised in Victoria.
Throughout his offending, Ellingburg represented himself as a pastor, but he was never accredited.
More court news:
In 2015 Ellingburg met the father of two young children with the terminal illness Batten disease while he was soliciting donations at the Epsom shopping centre.
The following year, after one of the children had died, the father told Ellingburg he had discovered a trial treatment potentially available overseas.
Ellingburg said he wanted to raise money for the surviving child and led the father to believe he was a pastor with a registered charity.
From this time, Ellingburg displayed images of the man's child and information on his condition to encourage people to donate, and had a website asking for donations of $75,000 with details of his bank account.
The family of the ill child received about $800.
Police began investigating Ellingburg following a Crimestoppers tip made in 2015.
Analysis of bank accounts linked to Ellingburg, including those in the name of Grace Christian Centres, determined the total amount of money obtained was $41,000.
Of the withdrawals made, only $50 was identified as being paid to terminally ill children or something of a similar nature.
The court heard Ellingburg used a false statutory declaration to persuade people of his credentials and on one occasion, produced a false document stating Grace Christian Centres had public liability insurance.
Diaries police found in Ellingburg's home detailed his 'fundraising' activities across Victoria, including in Bendigo, Kerang, Maryborough, Echuca and Marong, among others.
The court heard Ellingburg had not provided any material showing that ill children had benefited from his fundraising, nor could he name any beneficiaries aside from the family of the child with Batten disease.
"Mr Ellingburg is the instigator, principal architect and driving force in this enterprise," Mr Sharp said.
Ellingburg's defence lawyer Anne-Marie Stephanides said her client poorly managed his charity, rather than set it up with the intention to defraud.
She told the court her client had a "particularly disadvantaged background" and was subjected to violence from a young age, and suffered the murder of his younger sister when he was 18.
She said he did not finish year 9 in schooling and was on the disability support pension because he was unable to gain secure employment. Illicit drugs had also been an issue.
The court heard Ellingburg had a number of complex health problems, used a wheelchair and was reliant on care for everyday living.
Ms Stephanides argued Ellingburg's physical health would make him particularly vulnerable if he were sentenced to time in prison, and his mental health only exacerbated that.
She said his physical limitations meant he would also be reliant on another prisoner as a carer.
Ms Stephanides referred to his psychologist's report, which stated he would be at immediate risk of self-harm or suicide if imprisoned.
She submitted narcissistic elements of his personality, as identified by his psychologist, and self-destructive behaviour meant Ellingburg did not find another way to deal with the expenses of his charity and looked after his needs first.
Ms Stephanides said magistrate Sarah Leighfield had adequate sentencing power in this matter and asked she consider a lengthy community corrections order.
Prosecutor Mr Sharp told the court Ellingburg had relevant prior offences, including 17 charges of theft in Bendigo in 1992 for stealing donations from a lawful charity.
Mr Sharp said using donations for personal gain "strikes at the heart of much-needed social conscience" and undermined legitimate charitable operations.
An email from co-offender Luke Riddick to the father of the child with Batten disease, Mr Sharp said, showed he and Ellingburg were capable of keeping track of their organisation's finances.
Mr Sharp also questioned the veracity of some of the claims about Ellingburg's physical health.
Ellingburg is also pleading guilty to theft in relation to furniture, whitegoods and other household items stolen in February 2017 from a Kennington home he was renting, as well damage to the home of $8560.
When police searched Ellingburg's Harcourt home that year, they found items stolen from a rental home he previously occupied in Kennington.
Ellingburg and two others were evicted from the house after falling $11,000 in arrears within 18 months.
Ellingburg told his landlord the place would not be worth renting once he finished with it.
When the landlord took back possession of her property, she found multiple smashed windows, holes in walls, broken doors, carpet ripped up and missing curtains, as well as most of the furnishings and other items she had supplied missing.
Ellingburg told police Riddick caused the damage.
Ms Leighfield adjourned the matter to March to determine if Ellingburg should be sentenced in the Magistrates' Court or a higher court.
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