Ex-Tyngsboro, Massachusetts church worker indicted on embezzlement charges

A former Tyngsboro church employee has been indicted for allegedly skimming well over $100,000 from the cash donations made by the parishioners at Sunday Masses, including donations made to the poor, at St. Mary Magdalen Parish.

Donna Rood, 47, of Tyngsboro, has been indicted on charges of larceny by embezzlement over $250 and making false entries in corporate books.
"This defendant is alleged to have violated the trust and faith bestowed upon her as an employee of this church by stealing the monetary donations that were intended for the needs of her church and community," Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone said in a statement. "We allege that the defendant sadly abused this trust stealing well over $100,000 from charitable collection baskets during her time of employment."
According to authorities, Rood had access to the cash and books at the Tyngsboro church from 2003 until June of 2009. One of her responsibilities in the parish was to count charitable donations made by the parishioners during the three Sunday Masses. Donations were made in both check and cash, and included donations to the building fund, which served to maintain the church grounds; the "candle money," which was collected from individuals making votive offerings;and donations to the Society of St. Vincent DePaul, a Catholic charity committed to helping the poor.
Rood was also responsible for making entries in ledgers and tally sheets which were
maintained by the parish to keep track of the donations received.
The parish priest noticed there was a problem on May 31, 2009, when he personally and privately counted the candle collection and parish offertory collection, and found it totalled $127. When Rood counted the same money the next day, she made a written report that the total was only $97.There was no explanation for the missing money.
The following week, the parish priest and other parishioners conducted their own private count of the donated funds prior to Rood submitting her figures. Rood's figures, submitted in written form, reflected substantially lower amounts, and several large bills that had been specifically noted by the priest had gone missing. In early June 2009, the parish priest confronted Rood about the discrepancies in her counting. She was fired.
In the weeks after Rood's termination, the parish saw a dramatic increase in recorded cash donations, including numerous large bills. In prior years, counters rarely saw any large bills among the donations. An analysis of church receipts over time showed that there had been previous surges in donations during weeks that Rood was on vacation and unavailable to participate in counting the donations.
When investigators researched Rood's bank records they allegedly discovered a striking pattern of cash deposits, as much as $1,500 at a time immediately following Sunday services. The investigation revealed that Rood had no visible source of legitimate cash income. She was paid for her church duties exclusively by check.
Records revealed Rood deposited more than $17,000 in cash in 2005; more than $19,000 in cash in 2006; more than $35,000 in cash in each of the years 2007 and 2008; and had already deposited over $21,000 in cash in the year 2009 when she was fired in early June.
The bank records also revealed a dramatic decline in Rood's pattern of cash deposits immediately after she lost her job with the church. After making consistent, weekly deposits of large volumes of cash each of the first twenty-two weeks of 2009, her cash deposits abruptly ceased after she was fired.
No date has been set for Rood's arraignment.
A former employee of St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Tyngsboro accused of skimming well over $100,000 from Sunday Mass collections, including donations to the poor, may be seeking a state-paid defense attorney.

Donna Rood, 47, of Tyngsboro, pleaded innocent in Middlesex Superior Court
yesterday to charges of embezzlement over $250 and making false entries into corporate books.
Clerk-Magistrate Matthew Day released Rood on personal recognizance and ordered her to relinquish her passport and sign a waiver of rendition in case she should leave the state.
Rood came to court without an attorney yesterday. Defense attorney Jeanne Earley, the duty attorney who represented Rood during her arraignment, said it is unclear if she will qualify for a court-appointed lawyer.
Donna Rood, facing front, with attorney Jeanne Earley, pleads innocent to embezzling more than $100,000 from church collections at St. Mary Magdalen Parish yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court. 
When contacted by The Sun, Earley declined to comment further on Rood's behalf at this time.
Meanwhile, the church pastor who initially discovered the discrepancies in the books that led to the case against Rood, the Rev. Ron St. Pierre, told The Sun last night he was praying for her.
"It's a very sad situation and she needs to be in our prayers," said St. Pierre. "She is somebody in whom we all placed our trust and we're all very saddened by this."
A message left on her answering machine last night was not returned. No one answered the door when a Sun reporter knocked on her door last night.
According to authorities, Rood had access to the cash and books at the Tyngsboro church from 2003 until June of 2009. Her responsibilities included counting the charitable donations during the three Sunday Masses.
But St. Pierre became suspicious that something was amiss in May 2009 after he counted the day's offering and found there was $127. The next day Rood, a six-year church employee, claimed there was only $97.
The next week, St. Pierre and other parishioners did their own private count of the donations prior to Rood submitting her figures. Rood's figures, submitted in written form, were smaller and several large bills that had been specifically noted by St. Pierre had gone missing.
In early June 2009, after St. Pierre confronted Rood about the discrepancies in her counting, she was fired.
When investigators reviewed Rood's personal bank records they allegedly discovered a striking pattern of cash deposits, as much as $1,500 at a time, immediately after Sunday services. Rood allegedly could not explain the missing cash. She was paid for her church duties exclusively by check.
Records revealed Rood deposited more than $17,000 in cash in 2005; more than $19,000 in cash in 2006; more than $35,000 in cash in each of the years 2007 and 2008; and had already deposited more than $21,000 in cash in the year 2009 when she was fired in early June.
Her next court date is June 30.