Ex-worker at Rock Hill church stole $30K using credit card, then tried cover-up: Police
A former finance worker at a Rock Hill church has been charged with stealing more than $30,000 from a church using a credit card over more than a decade, then trying to cover up the crime by deleting computer records, according to court documents.
Rock Hill Police Department detectives charged Jennifer Denise Farmer, 39, on Tuesday with breach of trust with fraudulent intent over $10,000 and second-degree computer crime from allegations at Oakdale Baptist Church, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Herald.
Farmer was a paid employee “in a position of trust” responsible for church finances from 2013 through March 14, when she used the church credit card “for her personal benefit,” an arrest warrant states. The warrant does not give specifics about what Farmer spent the money on.
Police also say Farmer tried to cover up financial crimes after she worked at the church. She allegedly deleted “numerous files from the church computer after being informed she was no longer employed following an investigation into unlawful use of the church credit accounts,” the computer crime warrant states.
Farmer made a first appearance in Rock Hill Municipal Court on Wednesday morning. A judge gave her a $20,000 bond on both charges.
The breach of trust charge is a felony that can carry as much as 10 years in prison for a conviction under South Carolina law. The computer crime is a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in prison.
Her lawyer, Jim Boyd of Rock Hill, declined to comment about the case after Farmer’s court appearance.
It remains unclear when the allegations were reported to police, or when Farmer left employment at the church. Rock Hill police said an incident report that normally is done when a case starts was not approved for release as of Wednesday.
Efforts by The Herald to reach the church’s pastor and financial office by phone were unsuccessful Wednesday.
