A disgraced Newcastle church treasurer has been jailed after stealing thousands from his own congregation — and being exposed in a child-sex chat sting set up by his daughter.
Stephen Lo, 54, from Heaton, was trusted to manage finances at St Thomas & St Oswald’s Church in Sunderland. But over four months he siphoned off more than £7,500 by getting blank cheques pre-signed and quietly paying them into his own account.
The fraud came to light when church accounts failed to balance and missing cheque stubs were traced back to Lo’s bank.
But his daughter then made a shocking discovery — seeing him follow young girls on TikTok. With a friend, she posed as a 14-year-old, then a 12-year-old. Lo moved the chat to WhatsApp, sent sexual messages and an explicit image, and suggested meeting up.
Lo eventually pleaded guilty to nine fraud charges, attempting sexual communication with a child, and breaching an interim sexual risk order. He’s been jailed for two years and three months and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.