BishopAccountability.org
	District Attorney: Parishioner Pocketed $100g from Collection Plates By O’ryan Johnson and Edward Mason Boston Herald June 3, 2010 http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100603district_attorney_parishioner_pocketed_100g_from_collection_plates/ A Tyngsboro parish has been rocked by charges that someone in the flock skimmed more than $100,000 from church collection plates for nearly six years. Donna Rood, 47, was indicted yesterday on charges of pocketing large bills from collection plates as she counted Sunday donations at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Tyngsboro from 2003 until June of 2009, Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone said. “You just don’t believe someone would do that,” said Dennis Santos of Dracut, a parishioner. “I don’t know anyone who’d do that.” “It caught us all by surprise,” agreed Carol Devanney of Tyngsboro. “You never expect anything like this.” Devanney said the Rev. Ron St. Pierre told parishioners Sunday to be prepared for news of Rood’s indictment, although he didn’t name her, and asked them to pray for her. “He said, ‘Keep her in your prayers as you would your own,’ ” According to Leone, the alleged embezzlement unraveled when the parish priest interceded to count the bills ahead of Rood. Authoritites scoured church records and found surges in donations on Sundays when Rood did not work. Donations also appeared to rise again after she was fired. Rood is charged with larceny by embezzlement over $250 and making false entries into corporate books. No arraignment date has been set. Rood and church officials could not be reached.
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