ORANGE — A local woman faces four larceny charges for allegedly misusing the Orange Elementary School PTO checking account and not depositing money she was supposed to when she served as the group’s treasurer.
Jessica Knox of 317 Tully Road pleaded innocent in Orange District Court on Monday to three counts of larceny under $250 and one count of larceny over $250.
Authorities say about $3,500 is unaccounted for.
According to Orange Patrolman Michael LaPointe, members of the Orange Elementary PTO told police on Sept. 29 of concerns about Knox. PTO Co-President Lynn Skorb explained that in April she started asking Knox for paperwork regarding the organization’s bank accounts so they could close the books for the fiscal year, and that Knox had not complied. Knox has since resigned from the PTO.
Vice President Kelli Gervais said the PTO has two separate accounts with TD Bank, a regular checking account and a money market account. There are two debit cards that went along with the checking account, one of them was for Knox.
Gervais showed LaPointe some transactions that concerned the PTO because they were not related to the PTO. There were charges of $20.95 at Gulf Oil in Orange (the Cumberland Farms on East Main Street) on May 23, $23.52 at A L Prime in Clinton on June 3, and $28.40 at the Pizza Factory on June 6.
Gervais also had a copy of a withdrawal slip from one of the accounts for $3,200 on June 5. The name on the withdrawal slip is “Jessica Knox Orange Elem” and Knox signed it, according to the police. Gervais explained PTO members reported this to TD Bank and were told to report it to police so the bank’s fraud division could start an investigation.
LaPointe reported that Knox told him she did not remember a $3,000 withdrawal.
Gervais provided police paperwork that included a $3,200 withdrawal slip with a West Virginia’s driver’s license number on it that was traced to Knox, who had moved to Massachusetts from West Virginia and did not have a Massachusetts driver’s license until Sept. 12.
On Oct. 13, Knox again spoke with LaPointe and reiterated that she did not remember making a $3,200 withdrawal. She eventually said she wanted to talk to a lawyer and the interview was ended. On the way out of the room, LaPointe reported that Knox asked if she could pay back the money.
Gervais and co-President Tarrah Hart examined the paperwork Knox had brought to the Orange Police Department and they were not able to figure out where the $3,200 would have gone or for what Knox would have used it. Hart said Knox was never asked to withdraw $3,200. According to LaPointe, he reviewed PTO meeting minutes from September 2015 to June 2016 and found no mention of Knox being asked to withdraw $3,200.
The charge of larceny over $250 stems from the missing $3,200 and the larceny under $250 charges stem from the transactions made at Gulf Oil, Pizza Factory and A L Prime Clinton. Knox is due in court for a pretrial conference on Feb. 21.
An attempt to contact Knox on Wednesday was unsuccessful.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 258.
On Twitter: @DomenicPoli