Birmingham, AL 01/22/2018
A 26-year-old Fultondale woman has turned herself into the Jefferson County Jail after being charged with theft from a high school PTA account.
Mary Humphreys
On November 27, 2017, a school resource deputy was called to the office of Fultondale Elementary 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. The PTA board treasurer, Mary Katherine Humphreys, 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. The investigation revealed that Humphreys had been using the debit card to make unauthorized purchases and cash withdrawals since September 2017. The total dollar amount taken from the PTA account was over $10,000. The money was used to pay personal bills and purchase of jewelry, manicures, and online shopping items.
On January 18, 2018, 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.
Mary Katherine Humphreys turned herself into the Jefferson County Jail on January 19, 2018, and was released on $5,000 pending court proceedings.