lisajl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2002
Mar 7, 2:58 PM EST
Girl Scout leader admits stealing cash from troop cookie funds
DELAWARE, Ohio (AP) -- A former Girl Scout leader admitted she stole about $5,000 that her troop raised through cookie sales and other fundraisers to pay personal expenses, including her cell phone bill.
Teresa Wickline, 42, faces up to one year in prison after her guilty plea to theft Monday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. The judge could choose to sentence her to probation.
A financial report in January 2006 showed that Troop 225 had $8 in its checking account when more than $5,000 had been raised since 2001.
Parents of girls in the troop contacted the Girl Scouts Seal of Ohio Council, which investigated and alerted authorities after discovering that checks written from the account had bounced.
"A Girl Scout troop leader is a trusted person on par with a parent," Prosecutor Dave Yost said. "A violation of trust always makes a crime more serious and a violation of trust of this magnitude, it boggles the mind."
Wickline, of Lewis Center, north of Columbus, faces a $2,500 fine at sentencing April 11, when a judge also would address whether she must pay the money back, said Traci Beck, spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
Girl Scout leader admits stealing cash from troop cookie funds
DELAWARE, Ohio (AP) -- A former Girl Scout leader admitted she stole about $5,000 that her troop raised through cookie sales and other fundraisers to pay personal expenses, including her cell phone bill.
Teresa Wickline, 42, faces up to one year in prison after her guilty plea to theft Monday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. The judge could choose to sentence her to probation.
A financial report in January 2006 showed that Troop 225 had $8 in its checking account when more than $5,000 had been raised since 2001.
Parents of girls in the troop contacted the Girl Scouts Seal of Ohio Council, which investigated and alerted authorities after discovering that checks written from the account had bounced.
"A Girl Scout troop leader is a trusted person on par with a parent," Prosecutor Dave Yost said. "A violation of trust always makes a crime more serious and a violation of trust of this magnitude, it boggles the mind."
Wickline, of Lewis Center, north of Columbus, faces a $2,500 fine at sentencing April 11, when a judge also would address whether she must pay the money back, said Traci Beck, spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
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We had one of those in my Sorority, which is and supports other charities. Keeping money intended for accessible playgrounds was one of my favorites. She even served as her chapter's Treasurer and it was during that tenure that she was exposed and she was driven out. It makes me sick, since people like her give a black-eye to superb service organizations.
