Joshua Delaney, 26, of Rockville, was sentenced in connection with vandalizing Faith United Methodist Church on Montrose Road in Rockville. He pled guilty to three charges, including theft and malicious destruction of property.
In one incident this summer, Delaney painted the misspelled message “Fake Chruh” on the front door.
On Dec. 13, Delaney received a suspended sentence of 17 months and instead will be on probation for three years. He was ordered to pay restitution of $711 and perform 40 hours of community service.
He cannot contact or trespass at the church and needs to have therapy, according to his sentence that was delivered in District Court in Rockville.
Judge Frank Moffett called Delaney’s actions deplorable, according to Pastor Laura Norvell.
Church members had asked Moffett that Delaney not have to serve time in jail.
During the sentencing, Norvell and church member Nancy Kuhn shared a statement that expressed “the distress, fear and sorrow felt by our congregation and our wider Farmland community in the wake of the repeated and escalating acts of vandalism.”
Delaney was ordered to donate the $711 in restitution to Rainbow Place Shelter, which is a shelter for unhoused LGBTQ youth.
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