UPDATED Jan. 28 at 1 p.m.
Erin “Kelly continues to be an MCPS employee on leave until the HR process has been completed,” a Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson told MCM. (HR stands for human resources.)
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A Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) middle school employee was sentenced Monday to six months in jail after pleading guilty to stealing $160,000 from a dance studio in Rockville where she was employed.
For at least six years, Erin Kelly, 42, of Rockville, took checks made out to the Dawn Crafton Dance Connection on Gibbs Road in Rockville and listed her personal account on the back of the checks so she could deposit the money into her own bank account.
“I’d like to start by apologizing for the choices I have made,” Kelly said during her two-hour sentencing hearing at Montgomery County Circuit Court. But her statement soon turned to how mistreated she felt as an employee, saying she was overworked and told she was overweight and didn’t use proper makeup.
She spoke of what a good employee she was and how she originally felt like family.
Judge Mary McCormick called her statement bizarre and disappointing, noting that through all her years on the bench, “I have never, ever heard the victim blame the family.”
McCormick continued, “This is the first time I’ve ever heard anger at one’s employee or betrayal as a justification” for stealing. “You are a thief and a liar, and I don’t hear a whole lot of remorse other than how it has affected your life.”
Kelly asked to address the court again. This time she looked at the people from the dance studio who attended the trial. She talked about “how horribly I feel” and said she hoped to regain the trust of the people who had once trusted her. “I am sorry. I am sorry, very sorry.”
McCormick called her second comments “more like it,” and then sentenced her to three years in jail, with all but six months suspended on two counts of conducting a theft scheme and embezzlement.
Kelly is to begin serving her time on Feb. 28. Following her release from jail, she was ordered to spend three years on probation and pay the entire $160,986.25 she admitted she stole to the owners of the dance studio. If she does not pay the entire sum by Feb. 3, McCormick could increase her jail time.
She also was ordered not to have contact with those she stole from and to stay away from the dance studio. “Let them live their life in peace,” the judge said.
Kelly also was ordered to get mental health counseling.
Judge McCormick said she would have issued a longer jail sentence except for the fact that Kelly lives with her 89-year-old ailing grandmother as her sole support. “The reason I am giving you this grace is for your grandmother.”
Kelly began dancing at the very studio she eventually stole from when she was only two or three years old and continued through high school. Her mother and Dawn Crafton, who owns the studio, were close friends.
MCM reached out to MCPS concerning Kelly’s status but has not yet heard back.
“Montgomery County Public Schools knows about this incident. We are praying she can hold on to this job,” said her attorney, David Schiller, prior to learning that Kelly would be sentenced to time in jail.
Kelly’s father, Dennis, read a statement saying his daughter was a good person who made 86 bad decisions over a six-year period. He was referring to the number of checks that Erin Kelly deposited into her own account even though they were made out to the dance studio.
“The crime maybe is what she did, but it is not who she is,” her father said, pausing several times to control his emotions. “She’s a good person.”
Kelly Welch, the dance studio’s artistic director, said she has known Erin Kelly all her life and that Kelly baby sat and house sat for her children.
Kelly became office manager in 2009 and worked multiple jobs during the next 10 years to 15 years. When she left the dance studio in 2022 to work at MCPS, a new bookkeeper was hired. That bookkeeper asked one family for payment and was informed they already told had paid. They brought in their check to prove it, and that is when Welch realized Kelly had her own account numbers on the check.
“I will never forget that feeling. I gasped so badly,” Welch said.
Kelly’s scheme quickly unraveled from there.
When confronted, Kelly denied knowing anything. Welch said they contacted the Rockville City Police, where an investigation eventually began.
“This was such a betrayal for me, so much hurt and pain. This has been a living hell for two years,” Welch told the judge. Welch said she believes Kelly stole a lot more from them than $160,000 by changing dates on credit card receipts and stating that some dance students were on scholarship when they were paying.
She estimated that Kelly stole “close to half a million dollars.”
Crafton told the court that she has been on medication and still has trouble understanding how someone she loved could break her heart.
According to Crafton, Kelly used the money she stole on jewelry and clothing.
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