Times-Chronicle Staff
A former treasurer of Oliver Elementary School’s Parents Advisory Council (PAC) won’t be going to jail for stealing more than $10,000 from the fund. Instead, Belinda Yorke has been given a conditional sentence followed by probation.
The woman, who pleaded guilty last year to theft over $5,000, must apologize to the council and pay back what she stole during her tenure overseeing the books from 2016 to 2018.
Yorke was sentenced in court on Friday.
The RCMP conducted a comprehensive investigation after suspicion was raised about her accounting habits. The court heard how she embezzled funds (cheques) meant for students at the school.
The Crown was seeking a jail term but the defence argued otherwise, convincing the judge that a two-year conditional sentence would best serve the public, followed by 12 months of probation.
Yorke has no prior criminal record.
