A former East Norriton woman is facing felony charges after police investigators alleged she stole more than $43,000 from the All My Children Childcare and Learning Center on Allentown Road in Franconia Township.
Jacqueline Jay, 44, of San Antonio, TX, has been charged with felony counts of theft by deception, receiving stolen property, theft by failing to make required deposit of funds, and access device fraud, in connection with the investigation. She is currently free on $25,000 unsecured bail.
The owner of All My Children reported to police on April 12 that a former employee, identified as Jay, had allegedly stolen $11,982.29 from his business via depositing duplicate checks that had initially been made out to vendors but were later altered and deposited into Jay’s bank account. The owner reported that the thefts began in March 2022 and carried through April 2023, adding that Jay had since moved to San Antonio in March 2023, according to charging documents.
Investigators said they confirmed numerous mobile deposits of All My Children checks into Jay’s personal account, and they also acquired video of her withdrawing a large sum of money from her account at a bank in San Antonio. Further investigation revealed additional checks the owner was unaware of, including incoming checks from businesses, the Montgomery County Treasurer’s Office, a personal client, and a youth organization, bringing the total amount of the alleged theft to $43,279.91, police said.
In late May, the owner again contacted police to report fraudulent credit card purchases on his personal Mastercard totaling $8,049.11, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators said the card was used to make purchases between March and May 20 at Walmart locations in the San Antonio area as well as online purchases from Walmart, Amazon, and airline tickets from Philadelphia to Texas.
The owner said he kept the card at a location at his business and believed Jay had acquired it without his knowledge or authorization, police said. The total loss came to $51,329.02, according to the complaint.
Police said they made contact with Jay by phone on June 2, at which point they informed her of their investigation, and she indicated that she “wanted to come clean.” Jay indicated “she wanted to make everything right,” police said, but when asked about the credit card usage, she claimed she had several credit cards uploaded in her phone and inferred it had been used by mistake.
Jay stated she acted alone and “it was all her,” police said.
Court records show charges were filed against Jay on June 7, and she was subsequently freed on unsecured bail following her arraignment. Her next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on July 17 at 2:30 p.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Albert Augustine.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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