YPD/Unlicensed Minister
10/24/18
On the evening of October 5th, Yarmouth Police Patrol Officer Gordon Gibbons spoke with a woman who reported she had been married on September 15th at a resort in South Yarmouth.
During the ceremony, her bridal party had been provided with a locked room to store their belongings, but later in the evening several bridesmaids reported misuse of their credit cards.
The woman informed Officer Gibbons that the nondenominational minister who was the officiant at her wedding was James Stern of Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
A computer check of Stern showed 51 entries on his Massachusetts record for similar crimes such as identity theft, fraudulent use of a credit card and related larceny charges dating back to 1994. Stern also has criminal records in Rhode Island and New Jersey.
To add to all that, he wasn’t licensed in Massachusetts to officiate at her wedding and consequently her marriage is invalid.
Yarmouth Police say the investigation is active and ongoing and anyone with information on the whereabouts of James Stern is asked to call YPD Detective Michael Wells.