Treasurer stole $84k from gym and her parents. HOME DETENTION since she was a single parent.

Treasurer stole $84k from gym and her parents. HOME DETENTION since she was a single parent.

HOME DETENTION: Melanie Sorenson stole from the gym club where she was treasurer.

A single mother who stole more than $84,000 from the gym club she was treasurer of has been sentenced to six months’ home detention.

Judge Joanna Maze said there was a low chance of first-time offender Melanie Sorenson, 40, of Timaru, reoffending when she sentenced her in the Timaru District Court today.

The judge noted that the club had been repaid all the money that was taken over a two-year period.

She found there was no need for Sorenson to undertake community work in light of her previous good character, and taking into account the fact that she was working part-time and a solo parent caring for three teenage children.

In May, the court heard that Sorenson had stolen $47,000 from her parents to pay back some of the money she had stolen from the South Canterbury Gym Sports Club while she was treasurer.

Sorenson pleaded guilty in May to a representative charge of dishonest use of a document.

She had become treasurer of the club in March 2010 and began keeping cash amounts instead of putting them into the club’s accounts, but managed to pay the money back.

In 2011 and 2012, she found that she could not pay back the money she was taking.

To explain the shortfall, she told the club a $46 cheque was processed for $46,000 and she had received a letter from Westpac, which would sponsor $500 towards a gymnastics competition as an apology. This was untrue.

She wrote more than 90 cheques for her own use, totalling $86,460.

In total, she paid $47,000 back into the club’s account, taken from her parents’ account. Her family has since repaid the $39,156 outstanding.A single mother who stole more than $84,000 from the gym club she was treasurer of has been sentenced to six months’ home detention.

Judge Joanna Maze said there was a low chance of first-time offender Melanie Sorenson, 40, of Timaru, reoffending when she sentenced her in the Timaru District Court today.

The judge noted that the club had been repaid all the money that was taken over a two-year period.

She found there was no need for Sorenson to undertake community work in light of her previous good character, and taking into account the fact that she was working part-time and a solo parent caring for three teenage children.

In May, the court heard that Sorenson had stolen $47,000 from her parents to pay back some of the money she had stolen from the South Canterbury Gym Sports Club while she was treasurer.

Sorenson pleaded guilty in May to a representative charge of dishonest use of a document.

She had become treasurer of the club in March 2010 and began keeping cash amounts instead of putting them into the club’s accounts, but managed to pay the money back.

In 2011 and 2012, she found that she could not pay back the money she was taking.

To explain the shortfall, she told the club a $46 cheque was processed for $46,000 and she had received a letter from Westpac, which would sponsor $500 towards a gymnastics competition as an apology. This was untrue.

She wrote more than 90 cheques for her own use, totalling $86,460.

In total, she paid $47,000 back into the club’s account, taken from her parents’ account. Her family has since repaid the $39,156 outstanding.A single mother who stole more than $84,000 from the gym club she was treasurer of has been sentenced to six months’ home detention.

Judge Joanna Maze said there was a low chance of first-time offender Melanie Sorenson, 40, of Timaru, reoffending when she sentenced her in the Timaru District Court today.

The judge noted that the club had been repaid all the money that was taken over a two-year period.

She found there was no need for Sorenson to undertake community work in light of her previous good character, and taking into account the fact that she was working part-time and a solo parent caring for three teenage children.

In May, the court heard that Sorenson had stolen $47,000 from her parents to pay back some of the money she had stolen from the South Canterbury Gym Sports Club while she was treasurer.

Sorenson pleaded guilty in May to a representative charge of dishonest use of a document.

She had become treasurer of the club in March 2010 and began keeping cash amounts instead of putting them into the club’s accounts, but managed to pay the money back.

In 2011 and 2012, she found that she could not pay back the money she was taking.

To explain the shortfall, she told the club a $46 cheque was processed for $46,000 and she had received a letter from Westpac, which would sponsor $500 towards a gymnastics competition as an apology. This was untrue.

She wrote more than 90 cheques for her own use, totalling $86,460.

In total, she paid $47,000 back into the club’s account, taken from her parents’ account. Her family has since repaid the $39,156 outstanding.