Former Cabot Parent-Teacher Organization president guilty of felony theft of funds

CABOT, Ark. – Officials with Cabot Schools announced on Wednesday that a former Parent-Teacher Organization president has been found guilty of theft.

Officials said Kimberly Ledee was found guilty in the Lonoke Circuit Court and will be sentenced on Oct. 28. Ledee served as the Northside Elementary PTO president from January 2021 to May 2023.

School district officials said that newly elected PTO officers in the summer of 2023 found irregularities in a review of the group’s financial records, including large transfers to Ledee’s personal Cash App, unexplained cash withdrawals and purchases not related to the school. The latter included payments for a garage door repair and birthday gifts for Ledee’s mother, officials said.

The incoming PTO members reported their findings to the school administration, who officials said referred the findings to the Cabot Police Department. The subsequent CPD investigation “determined that Ledee had stolen thousands of dollars from the Northside Elementary PTO,” school officials said.

Felony theft charges were filed against Ledee, leading to her trial and conviction.

Ledee posted to Facebook on Thursday that the announcement by Cabot Schools was “highly misleading” and that, despite the verdict, she was not guilty of felony theft. Critical evidence that would prove her innocence was never presented to the judge, she said, due to what she called a “flawed trial process.”

She said in the lengthy post that she would appeal the verdict.