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Pocono News Section
P.T.O. Treasurer to Face Trial on Theft Charges
P.T.O. Treasurer to Face Trial on Theft Charges - Monday, May 24, 2010 at 04:06AM EST
Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday May 24 2010
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SNYDERSVILLE, MONROE COUNTY - A Monroe County woman is going to trial. She's accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a school P. T.O.
Karen Steever of Kunkletown made her first official court appearance Monday morning. State police say Steever was the treasurer of the Eldred Township Parent Teacher Organization when she stole nearly $4,000 over the course of two years.
"I'm not guilty. They offered me a plea and I refused it," Steever said as she left the magistrate's office. "I did it for the kids."
While Steever said she took the money for the kids, she declined to answer any more questions. State police think the 44-year-old kept the money for herself.
"The parent-teacher organization of the Eldred Township Elementary School contacted the Pennsylvania State Police when they noticed some discrepancies in the treasurer's report," investigator Chris Bonin said.
Between January 2008 and December 2009, court papers show Steever wrote 26 different checks to herself. Some were for small amounts. Others were for amounts of $400.00.
After Steever left her position as treasurer, members of the P. T.O. tried to find out more about the checks. To this day, Steever has never gotten in contact with them or given them any indication what she used the money for.
"There was no documentation. No receipts. No change brought back into the account for where any of that money went," Trooper Bonin said.
People who live in the area of the elementary school are in shock. They can't believe someone would steal from young kids.
"In today's world, I'm not surprised with anything," former teacher Dale Harrison said. "I think the moral and ethical decline in our society, plus the hard economic times, fosters that type of behavior and it's a shame."
Members of the school's P. T.O. were in court Monday morning. They declined to answer questions and instead referred us to the Pleasant Valley School Superintendent. Our calls were not immediately returned. | | |
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