Woman Charged With Embezzling Money From Edmond Church

A former church secretary is charged with embezzling almost $20,000, money that was supposed to be used for certain missions and to help build a new sanctuary.

Chalea Boo Crow, 37, was the church secretary was two years and the past year had served as the financial secretary at Highland Park Baptist Church near Ayers and Bryant in Edmond.

The Pastor Rhodes says Crow was a longtime member church and a married mother with four children.

Now, she's accused of embezzling the money over a 14 month period. The pastor says Crow and her husband had recently changed churches. And it was while they were training a new financial secretary for the church that they discovered an discrepancy in the financial records that added up to more than $17,000.

Edmond police say when they asked Crow about it, she did not deny it. Crow was booked into the Oklahoma County jail last September.

Oklahoma City police say she also was accused of shoplifting clothes from the Dillard's store at Quail Springs mall.