A former finance director for a town on Mount Desert Island was indicted Thursday on a criminal felony charge of theft for allegedly stealing money from the town.
Tabbetha Newenham, 37, of Southwest Harbor is accused of embezzling several thousand dollars from Southwest Harbor by altering her payroll records to inflate her vacation accrual time, according to Hancock County District Attorney Matthew Foster. She allegedly stole more than $13,000 from the town between June 2012 and the end of April 2016.
[See all Hancock County coverage here]
The alleged theft was not discovered until after Newenham left her job with the town in May 2016. She was indicted Thursday on a Class B charge of theft which, if convicted on that charge, could result in a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.
According to a report by the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper, Newenham worked for the town for seven years, from 2009 to 2016, during which she held several clerical positions in the town office. Her duties included keeping track of payroll and vacation records of town employees.
In March 2017, when she no longer worked for Southwest Harbor, Newenham filed a civil lawsuit against the town, alleging that it owed her a day’s salary and cash as compensation for more than 200 hours of vacation time that she had accrued but never used, the newspaper reported. The town then filed a countersuit against Newenham, accusing her of fraud.
It was not clear Friday what sort of resolution, if any, was reached in the civil dispute. Justin Vandongen, the town manager for Southwest Harbor, did not return a message requesting comment on the case.
Also indicted Thursday was Izaak Bolduc, a Blue Hill man and former teacher at Deer Isle-Stonington High School accused of having sexual contact with a student there before he was dismissed from his job. He was indicted on four counts of unlawful sexual contact and four counts of unlawful sexual touching, all of which stem from his alleged abuse of the same student between February and mid-May of this year, according to Foster.
Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.
