John C. Gawf Jr., Former Opera Omaha Director, Gets Prison Sentence for Theft

Opera Omaha's former music director, John C. Gawf, Jr., recently received a 1-2 year prison sentence for the theft of over $100,000 from his elderly mother.

The theft took place over the course of eight months as Gawf would visit his mother in a nursing home. Gawf took a plea deal in Omaha's Douglas County District Court last week on the elder abuse charge. He had served as Opera Omaha's music director for the last 12 years.

Omaha's KETV Channel 7 News said that Gawf's months-long thievery was intended to fuel his gambling addiction:

"Prosecutors said he took about $113,000 from his mother, who's in a nursing home. The 53-year-old told police he took the money to fuel a gambling habit, according to prosecutors. Gawf has worked for Opera Omaha for more than 12 years, according to the organization's website."

According to the Omaha World-Herald, prosecutor Katie Benson spoke the following at Mr. Gawf's sentencing last week:

"Nobody's here to say Mr. Gawf's a bad son or that he doesn't love his mom," said prosecutor Katie Benson."But somebody has to protect these vulnerable people, because often the predator is somebody they know."

The AP reports: "General director Roger Weitz says Gawf is the resident music director at Opera Omaha but declined to comment further. Opera Omaha spokeswoman Katie Broman says the organization didn't know about the charge before Wednesday."

Gawf's mother has dementia, reports the Arts Journal, and Gawf had power of attorney for her. Apparently, he stole the money by drafting himself checks from her account.

Below, watch a YouTube video promoting Opera Omaha's upcoming free concert in the park, Opera Outdoors, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 9. More information is available at Opera Omaha's website at  www.operaomaha.org.

We want to hear from you. What do you think of fomer Opera Omaha director Mr. Gawf's misconduct? Were you aware of Mr. Gawf's 12-year residency as music director at Opera Omaha? Let us know what you think of Mr. Gawf's charges in the comments section below.

TagsOpera Omaha, John C. Gawf Jr., Katie Benson, Roger Weitz, Katie Broman