Woman Charged With Stealing More Than $10,000 From JeffCo PTA

BIRMINGHAM, AL - A Fultondale woman has been charged with theft after some suspicious charges were found in the Jefferson County PTA bank account. Mary Katherine Humphreys, 26, of Fultondale, turned herself in to the Jefferson County Jail Friday after being charged with stealing more than $10,000 from the Jefferson County Schools PTA.

On November 27, a school resource deputy was called to the office of Fultondale High School to investigate a report of suspicious transactions on the PTA account. It was reported that a PTA board member had retrieved the mail from the PTA post office box and discovered the bank statement was unusually large. A review of the account in detail revealed several suspicious transactions involving the debit card for the account.

The board member reported this to the PTA Board president and the school principal. A check of the school safe revealed the debit card was missing. Humphreys, the PTA board treasurer, was called to the school. When Humphreys arrived at the school, the charges were shown to her and she admitted to taking money from the PTA account and promised to pay the money back.

Sheriff’s detectives were assigned to investigate the theft, and the investigation revealed that Humphreys had been using the debit card to make unauthorized purchases and cash withdrawals since September 2017. Humphreys used more than $10,000 of the PTA's money to pay personal bills and purchase jewelry, manicures, and online shopping items.

Thursday, detectives presented the case to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and obtained an arrest warrant charging Humphreys with Theft of Property 1st Degree. Humphreys turned herself into the Jefferson County Jail the next day and was released on $5,000 pending court proceedings.

Photo from Jefferson County Jail