Grand jury: School employee stole thousands
A bookkeeper at a DeKalb County high school is accused of buying a plasma TV and other electronic goods using a school system credit card.
Shirlene Benton, 46, was indicted by the most recent DeKalb grand jury on multiple counts of fraud and forgery. She also was accused of stealing more than $12,000.
Benton was jailed briefly and released on a $12,000 bond Wednesday, according to DeKalb County Jail records. Her lawyer, Reginald Winfrey, had no comment Monday.
Benton was fired from her job as the Stephenson High School bookkeeper on Feb. 22, 2010 after an audit discovered the purchases, school system spokesman Walter Woods said.
The school system turned the case over to the DeKalb County District Attorney three days later, Woods said. He said Benton and Principal Brian Bolden were the only two people authorized to use the school's purchasing card, but the rules allowed other employees to use it if the principal signed for the purchase.
The indictment from the grand jury that met in March and April accuses Benton of forging Bolden's name three times in connection with purchases made in January 2010: a plasma TV, a TV stand, an Apple iPod dock and a DVD player.
When school investigators confronted Benton, she admitted she made those purchases and forged the principal's name, Woods said.
Winfrey, Benton's lawyer, has filed a motion for trial. Last week, he asked a judge to throw out Benton's prior statements, according to court records.
The purchases detailed in the indictment total about $1,300. Neither the indictment nor the school system's investigation explains another charge against Benton. She is accused of theft in connection with an incident that occurred sometime between Sept. 8, 2009 and Feb. 17, 2010. The indictment says only that Benton took $12,446.76 worth of high school property.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
