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Bethany J. Kelley, 54, of Tidioute, PA, was hired as an administrative assistant in 2010. Since that time, police said she forged checks from the school’s general fund in the amount of $12,168.64; forged payroll checks to herself in the amount of $59,576.72. Kelley also stole $22,521.61 from the senior class checking account; $5,000 from the sports booster dinner deposits. And charged $42,780.98 on a credit card in the school’s name that she obtained without the permission nor knowledge of the school.
Embezzlement was revealed when school directors discovered at a 2018 meeting that $20,000 was missing from a school account. Kelley was responsible for the account and could not give directors “a reasonable explanation” for why the money was missing.
When school conducted an audit, it showed in total $157,291 of school funds, stolen by Kelley over the course of her employment.
Now Kelley faces 120 counts of felony forgery; 7 counts of felony theft by deception; 7 counts of felony receiving stolen property; 21 felony counts of access device fraud; and 286 counts of misdemeanor access device fraud.
Kelley wrote a letter addressed to the board where she “confessed to her indiscretion” and submitted her resignation. “Again, I wish to express how sorry I am for my actions and the negative impact it has had on the school,” she allegedly said in the letter.
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