Thursday, February 21, 2013

Former PTA president sentenced in West Virginia

The former president of Midland Elementary School's Parent Teacher Association pleaded guilty to misdemeanor embezzlement Wednesday in Randolph County Magistrate Court.

Sarah Jane Butcher, 35, of Elkins, was charged with embezzlement greater than $1,000 Feb. 4 after she allegedly wrote checks totaling more than $2,000 from a Midland Elementary School PTA bank account to pay for items that were not for school use.

On Wednesday, Butcher pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement of less than $1,000, a misdemeanor, and paid full restitution in the amount of $2,260.69 to the magistrate clerk's office, which will forward the money to the Midland Elementary School PTA. In exchange, assistant Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Lori Gray dropped the felony embezzlement charge.
Butcher, who allegedly spent the money on personal items between Oct. 29, 2012, and Jan. 23, 2013, was sentenced to six months in jail, which was suspended in lieu of one year of supervised probation.

"We are very satisfied with the efforts of the Randolph County Magistrate Court, with the efforts of the Randolph County Sheriff's Department and with the efficiency of both of those agencies," Interim Superintendent of Randolph County Schools Terry George said Wednesday. "We are pleased with the swiftness with which the matter was resolved and very grateful that money will be returned to the PTA's bank account so that it can go about its business of organizing activities and events that will benefit the students of Midland Elementary School."

"They did an outstanding job," George said.

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