Unholy crime: Couple charged with stealing from Calhoun church

CALHOUN, Ga. - The Gordon County community left in shock after two of their own are accused of stealing more than $200,000 from a Calhoun church in what some describe as an unholy crime.

"A church of all things, you would think of a bank, you wouldn't think of a church," said Mary Martin.

"It’s wrong. It’s not the place to be stealing people’s money," said Ernie Pfleger.

Calhoun Police say Chad and Melanie Temple embezzled from Belmont Baptist Church.

Chad and Melanie Temple

Investigators say they used church credit cards for personal purchases from 2019 to 2022.

Police say Melanie worked at the church and had access to their credit cards. Detectives say they charged Chad because he was part of the scheme.

"It's shocking to me that someone would steal from a church to begin with," said Calhoun Police Chief Tony Pyle.

Chief Pyle says his investigators got called after the church did a forensic audit. That kicked off a year-and-a-half long investigation which found the Temples racked up a $212,000 tab.

"It started out small and it wasn't discovered, then another charge and another charge, then a little bigger and a little more frequent," Pyle said.

Deputies arrested the duo on Jan. 31. Chad remains behind bars, but Melanie bonded out Friday.

FOX 5 went to the address listed on her arrest report, but nobody answered the door.

From the street, young dogs could be seen in a fenced area attached to the home. People who know the Temples say they breed dogs. Investigators say among the items they bought with the church’s credit cards are pet products.

"A lot of dog or animal products from one of the online distributors, numerous things, personal things from Amazon and other retail places," Chief Pyle said.

The Temples face more than 300 charges each. The majority are related to credit card fraud. Police say they are being charged for each purchase.

We reached out to the church, but did not hear back.