TECUMSEH, Ont. - A priest is facing a theft charge after officials at a Windsor-area church reported money missing from parish accounts going back to 2002.

Provincial police say officials from Ste. Anne's Parish in Tecumseh, Ont., contacted them in August 2011 to report an internal theft had occurred between 2002 and 2010.

Police say they completed a lengthy investigation and that a financial audit of the parish accounts showed more than $180,000 in irregularities.

Father Robert Couture, 49, of Windsor, is charged with one count of theft over $5,000.

He is scheduled to appear in court on May 14.