A 52-year-old Owls Head woman was arrested Thursday and charged with stealing more than $8,000 from the Oceanside High School Class of 2018.

Brenda Carty was charged with felony theft, according to documents in Knox County Unified Court. She was released Thursday from the Knox County Jail in Rockland after posting $500 bail.

In July, parents of students at the Rockland high school contacted Rockland police with concerns about the bank account, which had been set up about three years ago for graduation expenses.

Rockland Police Detective Joel Neal subpoenaed TD Bank records for the account that showed a balance of $2.60. An audit revealed that $5,930 was spent on items that had nothing to do with the class and another $2,457 went toward questionable expenses for which there were no receipts, according to an affidavit.

Nearly $1,600 of the unauthorized expenditures by Carty, a parent volunteer, were from Wal-Mart and included an Elmo doll, baseball cards, food and clothing, according to the police report.

There were also $513 in hotel expenses and more than $800 in phone expenses.

The affidavit said that a member of student government contacted Carty to request money for T-shirts and was told the money was unavailable because it was invested in a certificate of deposit that couldn’t be cashed in until near graduation.

The money was to be used for graduation gowns and caps, as well as other graduation-related expenses.

The students had raised the money over three years through selling candles and pizza, basketball concession proceeds and other fundraisers.

Felony theft carries a potential 5-year prison sentence. No court date has been scheduled.

Carty could not be reached for comment, and a telephone number listed for her was not in service.

Copy the Story Link