WATERVILLE — A Belgrade woman who worked as an office manager at the Alfond Youth & Community Center in Waterville was indicted by a grand jury Thursday for allegedly stealing more than $10,000 from the center over five years.
Sherrie Anne Genness, 43, committed theft by unauthorized taking by obtaining or exercising unauthorized control over money from the Alfond Center, from or on about Jan. 1, 2014, through on or about Nov. 3, 2019, according to the indictment.
The grand jury indicted Genness at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta.
An indictment is not a determination of guilt, but an indication that sufficient evidence is present to proceed with formal charges and a trial in Superior Court.
According to Genness’ LinkedIn profile, she was office manager at the Alfond Center for almost 22 years, beginning in July 1999. She was fired from the position because of the theft, according to sources.
Contacted Monday, Ken Walsh, chief executive officer of the Alfond Center, issued a statement about the case, but said he could release no further information.
The statement reported that in 2019, members of senior management of the Alfond Center “uncovered irregularities by a former employee in the handling of cash associated with payments for various programs.”
“The AYCC Board of Directors took immediate action by launching a thorough, multi-pronged inquiry and analysis into these allegations. After our internal investigation, we contacted the local authorities and referred the matter to them,” the statement read. “We have fully cooperated with the authorities throughout this process and will continue to do so.
“We terminated the employee and engaged in a rigorous evaluation of all management policies and procedures to further strengthen and safeguard the organization’s finances and operations to avoid this from happening again. All program cash was recovered by insurance.”
Chief Joseph Massey of the Waterville Police Department confirmed Monday in a telephone interview his department has investigated the case, but he could not provide details of the investigation.
“We took the first initial report back in November of 2019, and we have been investigating that,” he said.
Email and telephone messages left Thursday afternoon for Marc Malon, spokesman for the Office of the Maine Attorney General, which is prosecuting the case, were not returned.
A telephone number listed for Genness at whitepages.com did not work. A recording said the number had been disconnected or was no longer in service. Efforts to reach Genness via Facebook were also unsuccessful.
The Alfond Center at 126 North St., which has the largest licensed child care program in the state, includes the Waterville Area Boys & Girls Club and YMCA. It serves more than 5,000 children through a variety of programs, and also offers adult programs. The Big Brothers Big Sisters office is also at the building.
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