Mentor Woman Admits To Stealing From Preschool

A Mentor woman admitted to stealing $6,900 from the while she was in charge of the preschool's finances.

Stacy Nease, 37, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of petty theft Monday afternoon in .

Nease was initially charged with a felony . However, she was permitted to plead guilty to a lesser charge because she returned the $6,900 she stole.

Nease took the money from the preschool from 2009 to 2011 while she served as its president.

She told Mentor Police that she had borrowed money from the school, intending to pay it back but had not, Lt. Dan Molnar .

Judge John Trebets did not sentence Nease today. Instead, he asked for a presentence report to be completed first.

When Nease is sentenced, she could receive as much as six months in jail.

The Mentor Co-Operative Preschool was founded in 1962 and is entirely funded by fundraising and tuition. Consequently, the preschool is owned by the parents who have children in the school.

While it has teachers that teach the children, parents also participate and donate supplies.

The preschool is housed in Mentor Plains United Methodist Church but it is not directly associated with the church.