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	Former Parish Worker Faces Theft Charges in Tyngsborough By John M. Guilfoil Boston Globe June 3, 2010 http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/06/03/former_parish_worker_faces_theft_charges_in_tyngsborough/ A former employee of a Catholic parish has been indicted on charges she stole more than $100,000 from collection baskets. Donna Rood, 47, of Tyngsborough faces felony charges of embezzlement over $250 and making false entries in corporate books after she was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury. She had been employed by St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Tyngsborough, where she was in charge of counting the weekly donations from the baskets. “This defendant is alleged to have violated the trust and faith bestowed upon her as an employee of this church by stealing the monetary donations that were intended for the needs of her church and community,’’ Gerard T. Leone Jr., the Middlesex district attorney, said in a statement Tuesday. “We allege that the defendant sadly abused this trust, stealing well over $100,000 from charitable collection baskets during her time of employment.’’ According to Leone, Rood worked at the church from 2003 to June 2009. She also counted the donations from the church’s prayer candles and those earmarked for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic charity that helps the poor. Rood did not return calls seeking comment last night. On May 31, 2009, suspecting the donations were coming up short, the parish priest decided to count the money one week before Rood did. The priest discovered she was allegedly stealing money and writing false numbers in the church’s books. On that one instance, the donations were actually $127, and Rood wrote $97 in the books, Leone said. The following week, Leone said, the parish conducted a second independent count of the funds before Rood made her count, which was “substantially lower’’ than the church’s total. Rood was fired, and the amount of donations to the church skyrocketed immediately after she left, the district attorney said. In particular, large bills were being found in the collection bins. During Rood’s tenure, large bills were rarely found in the collections, Leone said. Authorities scoured Rood’s bank records and discovered numerous cash deposits, as much as $1,500 at a time, into her personal checking account, according to the district attorney. Most of the deposits were made on the Monday immediately following church services. Leone said that records showed that Rood deposited more than $17,000 in cash in 2005, more than $19,000 in 2006, more than $35,000 in 2007 and again in 2008, and had already deposited more than $21,000 in cash in 2009, before she was fired. St. Mary Magdalen’s pastor, the Rev. Ron St. Pierre, is away for the week and did not return calls seeking comment. In a statement, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston said Tuesday: “As sad and difficult as this matter has been for our parish, we pray for the former employee who is at the center of this investigation and facing serious legal consequences.’’ John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com
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