SUMS IT UP BEST
"Just because someone's education qualifies them for a postition doesn't mean they are morally fit for it. "- From a post at a news story about a principal indicted on theft charges, accused of stealing more than $400,000 from book sales and student activities.
Joseph Lemme, principal of Holy Cross High School, was suspended without pay in November and he has been released from his contract. The grand jury indicted him on theft by deception charges.
The school was missing about $35,000 collected for student trips to New York, Disney World and other places; $21,000 collected for last year's summer school program and $171,000 from book sales in 2005 and 2006, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court of Monmouth County in November.SENTENCED Feb 18, 2008 - Lemme, 51, was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing more than $415,000 from the school, which struggled with declining enrollment and financial problems during Lemme's tenure. He can apply for an intensive early release program.
At Holy Cross, Lemme admitted that he routed tuition payments, money from book and uniform sales and field trip money to his personal bank account. He claims he did it because partly to get back at the church for sexual abuse he endured as a teenage seminary student.
