A Catholic priest was charged recently with stealing over $1 million from his church in Waterbury, Conn. to lead a double life in New York of luxury, male escorts, designer clothes and first class hotels.

Rev. Kevin Gray, 64, a former priest of the Sacred Heart in Waterbury, Conn. now faces charges of first-degree larceny.

If found guilty, Gray, who expressed dissatisfaction over the way the Catholic church had given him undesirable assignments, could get up to 20 years in prison, All Headline News said.

Over a period of seven years Gray filched $1.3 million to lead his secret life in New York.

Money from parishioner donations were spent on stays at the Waldorf-Astoria and W Hotel; meals at Tavern on the Green, suits from Brooks Brothers and Armani, laptops and cell phones among others, AHN said.

Gray also leased the Sacred Heart’s steeple in a secret deal with a company in California, which netted him $200,000. The deal was not disclosed with the Hartford Archdiocese, AHN said.

Gray also opened two separate credit card accounts. One was for a man he met at a strip club, and the other was for a man he met through a male escort service.

One account drew $67,000, including $5,410.00 for tuition at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, NY Daily News said.

The other account showed withdrawals of up to $50,000 for Crunch gym fees and Louis Vuitton items ($9,000). A third man who met Gray at Central Park said Gray paid for his tuition at Harvard, veterinarian bills and piano lessons, the NY Daily News said.

Despite his double life Gray, who had been taking money from Sacred Heart since 2003, had an excellent reputation in his Waterbury church parishioners.

On the day of his arraignment a mass of supporters rallied at the Waterbury Superior Court, AHN said. Secretly however, Gray hated being a priest and felt the church owed the money to him, LifeSiteNews said.

His financial divergence was discovered while Gray was on medical leave on April 15. He told his parishioners he had colon cancer, which was later discovered to be untrue. Gray turned himself over to police on Tuesday, LifeSiteNews said.

Gray said among other things he was unhappy with how the church treated homosexuals.

In 2005 the Vatican said homosexuals cannot be admitted into seminaries. This was followed in 2008 with a letter from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone saying the ban on the admission of homosexuals applied universally, LifeSiteNews said.