Crime

High School Teacher Accused of 'Feeding Student Funds into a Slot Machine'

September 21, 2017, 1:13 PM

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Lydia Johnson

Lydia Johnson has no shot at Teacher of the Year.

The educator at Dakota High School in Macomb, who was entrusted with organizing student events including homecoming and a student-parent trip, is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from students and using some of that to play the slots at MGM Grand Detroit Casino where she blew more than $90,000, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office charges, according to Christina Hall of the Detroit Free Press:

School officials and authorities said Johnson oversaw ticket sales for Dakota's 2016 homecoming dance, which should have taken in nearly $30,000 based on attendance. She only deposited $11,000 into the school's homecoming account, they said.

A search of her classroom revealed several homecoming cash deposit envelopes that were torn open, but empty. Her bank records show 2016 cash deposits "far in excess of her salary," the prosecutor's office said.

Johnson also oversaw ticket sales and receipts for a 60-person student and parent trip to Tamarack Camps last year. She should have collected and deposited nearly $13,000 in fees. Only $500 was deposited with the school, authorities said.

"This teacher held a position of trust within the high school," Prosecutor Eric Smith he said. "She repaid that trust by feeding student funds into a slot machine."

Johnson, 29, of Macomb Township, was arraigned Thursday morning. The judge set a $10,000 personal bond.


Read more:  Detroit Free Press


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