Crime & Safety

Connerton Elementary Principal Arrested For Stealing From Student

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office has arrested the principal of Connerton Elementary School for grand theft.

LAND O' LAKES, FL --The Pasco County Sheriff's Office has arrested the principal of Connerton Elementary School for grand theft.

According to the sheriff's office, on Oct. 23 a mentally handicapped 9-year-old student brought some of his parents' money to school. When his teachers realized what he had done, they took the money, counted it and secured it in Principal Edward John Abernathy's office.

When the child's mother came to the school to pick up the money, the sheriff's office said Abernathy gave her only $1,200 of the $2,100 her child brought to school.

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An investigation by deputies concluded that Abernathy, 50, of the 22000 block of Robin's Nest Court, Land O' Lakes, kept the $900 difference.

He was arrested and taken to the Land O' Lakes Detention Center.

Find out what's happening in Land O' Lakesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Image via Pasco Sheriff

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