(ICYMI) School Accountant Charged With Stealing $25K, Buying Boat

A woman who worked for the Paulding County School District as an accountant faces charges she stole more than $25,000 in county funds to buy a boat.

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office said Julie A. Taylor is accused of felony theft for taking a check from the New Hope Learning Center and converting into funds she used to buy the boat.

Taylor, 45, has been charged with one count of theft by conversion, a felony, according to sheriff’s office public information officer Cpl. Ashley Henson in a news release.

Taylor turned herself in on Friday and was later released on a $11,200 bond.

Henson said the check, written for $25,782.88, was meant to pay money back to the school district for services the school used during the summer.

Henson said the theft was discovered after an internal audit by the school district found money missing from the New Hope Learning Center account.

“Once they realized what had occurred, they immediately contacted the Sheriff’s Office so a criminal investigation could be initiated,” Henson said in the news release. “At that point, detectives felt as if they had enough evidence to pursue criminal charges against her.”

The school district says it has fired Taylor.

The boat Taylor allegedly purchased with the stolen funds was seized by deputies and ”deemed to be fruits of the crime of theft by conversion,” Henson said.

Photo: Julie A. Taylor; PCSO mugshot