COLORADO SPRINGS — A plea deal has been accepted in the case of Sara Ann Mock-Butler, the former financial director of Pikes Peak Christian Church, who was charged with the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the church.
The terms of the plea deal are a four-year differed sentence, restitution in the amount of $225,000, and community service. She paid the full amount of restitution after sentencing on Tuesday.
The judge overseeing the case told Mock-Butler she was fortunate the church had forgiven her for her crimes, and someone in less privileged circumstances would be looking at time in prison.
Church members and officials detailed to Mock-Butler what impact her crimes had, specifically it kept money from being used to help hungry families in our community and directly impacted church employees.
A case against her mother, who she implicated in the case, was dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Sara Ann Mock-Butler told the court and victims, "I am so deeply sorry for my actions over the course of the past year. I've had time to reflect on my actions and the impact of my actions. I betrayed my family, and implicated my mother in a crime she had no knowledge of."
According to the arrest affidavit, during Mocker-Butler's "unchecked or supervised time as financial director from 2017 to 2022", she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization and attempted to delete the evidence before finding work elsewhere.
The investigation started after lead Pastor Ross asked Mock-Butler to resign and the church's new financial director found discrepancies in the church's financial records.
According to the affidavit, the discrepancies totaled $200,000, forcing the church to lay off employees and cut specific ministries.
An internal investigation conducted by church officials revealed unexplained transfers from the church's operating account to the church's credit union credit card account that were not related to church business.
Pastor Ross claimed Mock-Butler falsified approval form documents and often double-signed them herself, against the church's policy.
Lead El Paso County Detective Marissa Williams determined that Mock-Butler forged three signatures of church leaders on authorization forms.
The church provided Detective Williams with an itemized spreadsheet of unauthorized charges made by Mock-Butler. Detective Williams determined that Mock-Butler spent a total of $341,519.25 of Pikes Peak Christian Church's money on unauthorized personal charges.
The affidavit outlines a total of 527 charges that Mock-Butler made using the church's financial information. Of these, 339 transactions were electronic. Of those, 296 were missing authorization forms, or the forms had been intentionally omitted.
An investigation with the Colorado Department of Revenue Agent Melody Kirscht determined that Mock-Butler was liable for six counts of felony Tax Evasion after the unreported income from Mock-Butler was reviewed.
Mock-Butler faced the following charges:
- Theft, class 4 felony (1 count)
- Cybercrime, class 3 felony (1 count)
- Money Laundering, class 3 felony (296 counts)
- Identity Theft, class 4 felony (527 counts)
- Forgery, class 5 felony (61 counts)
- Tax Evasion, class 5 felony (6 counts)
- Filing a False Return, class 5 felony (5 counts)
You can further review the arrest affidavit from the sheriff's office here.
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