Board member accused of stealing from Gwinnett sports league

“If we don’t recover the money in a quick amount of time, this association fails,” Parker said. “The board made the decision that was best for the kids so they can continue to have a home.”

Parker said Peyton took the money by writing checks of between $4,000 and $5,000 to herself over the past five years. She transferred money between different accounts to cover the checks she wrote herself, Parker said.

She has already paid back $50,000 and her father is helping her return the rest of the money, Parker said.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said a former board member of the association, a nonprofit athletic organization based in Buford, e-mailed his office around Aug. 10 seeking guidance.

Porter said he told the board member a police report would have to be filed before his office could investigate the alleged theft.

“We were told the board was attempting to work out a resolution privately, short of going to police,” Porter said.

Even if Peyton doesn’t pay the money back, criminal charges are unlikely.

“I’m not going to be inclined to go forward with it,” Porter said. “By them reaching a civil agreement, they’ve compromised the criminal case.”

The association could still seek relief in civil court.

Parker told the parents that if the full amount is not paid by Nov. 15, the association would prosecute.

On Monday, Parker e-mailed about 4,000 parents to explain the board’s decision that recovering the money was the priority. He also met with about 20 parents at Bogan Park while their children practiced.

Parker said prosecuting would result in the recreation program having to wait more than a year for a trial and a judge to order restitution, which could mean cutbacks to some of the teams.

“I don’t want to be in the position where we have to say which one of these sports do we let go,” Parker said. “There is no doubt a crime has been committed. But the D.A.’s and our stance is the recovery of the money is more important than a pound of flesh.”

Porter said his office was not part of Mill Creek’s decision to privately resolve the issue.

“What my assistant told them is we would not get involved in any kind of blessing of [the settlement],” Porter said.

If the money is repaid by Nov. 15, there will be no cuts to the program, which serves about 3,500 youth in north Gwinnett County.

The association discovered the missing funds after noticing several bills were not paid. Peyton admitted the theft after the board began talking about an audit, Parker said.

“She’s been playing the shell game. There was no oversight,” Parker told parents. “They trusted the wrong person.”

Peyton, an advertising employee of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, could not be reached for comment, but a woman who answered to Rhonda at Peyton’s Dacula home hung up on an AJC reporter Monday afternoon.

In an apology letter, Peyton told the board she had gone through a bad divorce and took the money to provide a good lifestyle for her children, according to Parker.

Helen Fleming, whose son plays on the Mill Creek football team, said she was outraged when she first heard about the situation.

“She has children, but she didn’t think about that when she did this,” Fleming said. “I’m a parent who teaches my kids, when you break the law, this is what happens. You don’t get away with it.”

Fleming said she worries that Peyton may be able to hurt other sports teams or commit similar acts elsewhere if she does not have a criminal record.

Bryan Beck, who’s 16-year-old son plays in the football league, said he would have preferred the association prosecute and ask parents to contribute money while awaiting court-mandated restitution.

“This is blackmail,” he said. “This is not the lesson I teach my kid. There is no easy solution, but I think this is selling out.”

Peyton’s children are still participating in the program, but the association is working to ban the mother from attending any games.

The new treasurer, Amy Kostel, said she plans to post the association’s finances on its web site quarterly, hire an auditor annually and no longer allow board members to write checks to themselves.

The Mill Creek association runs football, baseball, softball, cheerleading, basketball and lacrosse leagues for children ages 3-19.

— Staff reporter Christian Boone contributed to this report.