[B]ARRE — The former executive director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Team (SACT) of Washington County was charged with embezzling about $20,000 from the organization between October 2016 and February 2019.
Roberta “Bobbi” Gagne has been lauded for her work at SACT, the first organization in the country dedicated to serving both male and female victims of sexual violence. She now faces nine felony charges for embezzlement and false pretenses, and a sentence of up to 90 years in prison and $82,000 in fines.
Gagne, 65, pleaded not guilty Thursday on all counts. The Worcester resident was released on conditions and ordered to appear in court on April 16.
According to court documents, Gagne assigned herself quarterly “consultation fees” of $2,500 since 2016. SACT is funded primarily by state and federal grants — grants that Gagne allegedly shifted funds from to cover the “consultation fee.” The board of directors signed off on the checks, but were not aware of the diversion, according to the affidavit.
“At no time (did) she outright deny the allegations,” the affidavit said. “She never asked for any specifics. She said something to the effect that after 30 years of dedicating your life to something you would expect to be treated better.”
Anne Ward was hired as the new director of SACT several months ago, according to court documents, and was reviewing the program’s books when she noticed “inconsistencies with the accounts.”
During the transition between the two directors, Ward learned that staff had been advised by Gagne to not cooperate with her. At this time, Ward also learned that Gagne had been keeping most of her files on her personal email account, so Ward would never gain access to them, according to the affidavit.
Ward soon learned, after meeting with a bookkeeper, that several grants showed an excess of spending, with funds coming out of cash reserves. Meanwhile, the organizations bank accounts were nearly empty, she found. The board thought Gagne had budgeted for an overlap period, however, she had not.
“In a subsequent interview with Cheri Goldstein, board chair for SACT, said Gagne’s behavior prior to her leaving SACT was described (as) ‘paranoid’ and that she had become ‘a woman of secrets,’” the affidavit said. “Goldstein stated that Gagne was ‘sowing seeds of discontent and would try to make the relationship among staff and Anne (Ward) very adversarial. She would spread ‘misinformation and lies.’ Gagne was eventually asked to stay out of the office whenever possible during the transition.”
The grants Gagne allegedly embezzled from were reportedly intended for cases involving LGBTQ victims of sexual harassment and assault.
