The former employee of Pikes Peak Christian Church, Sara Ann Mock-Butler, has been accused of utilizing about $350,000 in church funds to purchase items for her personal use. These include lingerie and even adult toys.
Church's Former Financial Director's Misconduct
Based on the report from KOAA News5, the arrest document claims that Mock-Butler stole thousands of dollars throughout her unchecked or unsupervised tenure as finance director from 2017 to 2022 and sought to remove proof of this crime just before finding employment elsewhere. As mentioned, after lead Pastor Ross urged Mock-Butler to quit and the new finance director discovered disparities between bank account numbers and financial displays from the church records, the case was brought to the board of directors' attention, who decided to launch an investigation.
The church authorities who conducted the internal inquiry discovered strange transactions from the church's operating account to its credit union account. These payments were reportedly not related to church business in any way. According to Pastor Ross, Mock-Butler lied on the permission form paperwork and frequently double-signed them, which is against the church's rules. Moreover, Detective Williams concluded that Mock-Butler had faked the signatures of three different church leaders to use them on authorization documents.
As per Fox 21 Local News, starting in March 2018, the suspect began using increasingly significant amounts of the church's cash annually. To cover her tracks, she obliterated any record of her financial activities and falsified paperwork to make it look like her acquisitions were lawful. The initial fraud case occurred on March 7, 2018, when Mock-Butler stole $7,000 in cash from the congregation's checking account, then another $2,700 the next day. This was followed by a second occurrence of theft on March 8, 2018, when she stole an extra $1,000. Later in the same month, Mock-Butler made an installment payment to Capitol One of $17,700, wiping off a car loan. While in the bookkeeping records of the church, there was never any remark that stated the reason for the cash withdrawal.
On the other hand, based on the affidavit, only a short time after the initial incident, Mock-Butler used congregation cash to make orders from Chipotle and Amazon and pay her personal insurance premium. Additionally, the suspect indicates that most of the transactions carried out on behalf of the church required prior authorization from a minimum of two people. However, the affidavit discloses that Mock-Butler would often duplicate, sign her name as authorization, submit repeated purchases, or use the permission stamps of other church officials without their consent or knowledge.
Charges Against Mock-Butler
On Tuesday, May 31, Mock-Butler presented herself at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office in response to an arrest warrant concerning 896 financial-related offenses. According to the report, she paid off a bond of $10,000. Christian Standard reported that the new financial director of the church detected financial irregularities in October 2022, according to the senior pastor, Ross Frisbee.
"For a while [after that], we had to, of course, watch our spending, and some [projects were] put on hold. As far as normal ministry, things have been going well. The church responded very generously," Pastor Frisbee asserted. In addition, the pastor expressed his gratitude to the congregation for continuing to put their faith in the team of employees as they work toward improving the system of checks and balances going forward.
Related Article: Former Employee of Saint Matthew Catholic Church and School Sentenced 2 Years in Prison After Stealing $574k For Gambling and Vacation
