Former Laurel Valley Senior Center director charged

The former director of the Laurel Valley Senior Center is accused of stealing more than $26,000 from the New Florence center.

Sharon L. Harr, 54, of 1484 Shellbark Road, Armagh, was charged by Westmoreland County detectives with theft by deception, forgery, receiving stolen property and access device fraud.

Detectives allege Harr wrote 34 unauthorized checks between Oct. 15, 2008, and Sept. 27, 2010, and used Laurel Valley funds to purchase more than $4,500 worth of personal items for herself from Amazon.com.

According to the criminal complaint, Harr wrote the checks to herself but recorded them in the center's general ledger as written to someone else, including the center's attorney and insurance company.

Detectives said the nonprofit center's checks must be signed by two people, including a board member, and Harr admitted to signing the checks with two board members' names, without authorization to do so.

In an April 7 interview with detectives, Harr admitted that she wrote checks out to herself and indicated in the ledgers they were written to someone else, according to the criminal complaint. She also said she purchased the items from Amazon because of "her buying impulse," detectives said.

The charges come from a seven-month investigation and financial audit completed by Greensburg-based Sarp and Co.

Harr was released on $20,000 unsecured bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled 10 a.m. June 24 before Ligonier District Judge Denise Snyder-Thiel.

The Laurel Valley Senior Center is part of the Westmoreland County Area Agency on Aging.

No one at the agency or the center could be reached for comment Thursday.