Portland, Maine: A Litchfield woman was sentenced today in federal court in Portland for committing wire fraud affecting a financial institution, U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced.
U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced Jessica Childs, 39, to 13 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Childs pleaded guilty on April 23, 2019.
According to court records, Childs was the Finance Director of Women Unlimited (WU), a non-profit organization located in Augusta. As the Finance Director, Childs had access to the company’s bank accounts, credit cards and accounting system. Beginning in about February 2010, and continuing until September 2015, Childs used WU’s credit card to make personal purchases, frequently over the internet. She also obtained cash advances with the card and used the cash for personal purchases. She then used WU funds to pay the charges she had fraudulently incurred on the company card without WU’s knowledge or authorization.
In imposing sentence, Judge Hornby described Childs’s conduct as inexcusable, flagrant and prolonged. He also noted that her crime had an enormous impact, both directly on WU and its employees and indirectly on the individuals WU had served.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General; and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
