CARBON COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A woman is facing charges after being accused of stealing thousands of dollars while acting as the treasurer of a parent-teacher organization (PTO).
Melissa M. McCloskey, 34, of Lansford, is accused of taking money from the Panther Valley PTO and spending it on numerous retail items, dinners, and personal bills.
According to court documents, on September 3, an official from the Panther Valley Intermediate School contacted police and told them they confronted McCloskey about the missing money and she said she "accidentally used approximately $5,000 in funds from the PTO for her own use."
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Police met with the PTO president who provided them with transaction statements of the alleged unauthorized spending that spanned from October 28, 2022 to August 26, 2024. McCloskey was treasurer of the PTO during this timeframe, according to the arrest affidavit.
Police say the unauthorized transactions included food purchases from Italian restaurants, payments to AT&T, PPL, retail payments to Amazon, and ATM and Venmo payments to McCloskey from the former PTO treasurer that were never deposited into the PTO funds. In all, the transactions totaled $11,153.11.
Police say McCloskey was the sole bank card holder for the PTO.
Contact was made with McCloskey and her attorney and they declined to provide a written statement, investigators said. Charges were formally filed on September 17, 2024 by the Summit Hill Police Department.
On Monday, 28/22 News reached out to the Panther Valley School District for a statement on the investigation.
The beginning of the school year our PTO met and it was realized that money was missing from an account. The PTO immediately did an internal audit and identified the amount of money missing and identified the person believed to have stolen from the fund. Summit Hill police investigated and charges were filed. We are hoping to recoup the money within a year.
Panther Valley Superintendent David McAndrew Jr.
McCloskey was charged with theft by unlawful taking and is scheduled for a formal arraignment on December 19, according to online court records.
