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The former executive director of a Dubois County children’s nonprofit faces almost two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to stealing more than $160,000 from the organization.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young sentenced Ellen Corn, 50, of Petersburg, was sentenced to one year and nine months in federal prison and she was also ordered to pay $121,439.72 in restitution.
According to court documents, from March 2017 to August 2022, Corn served as the executive director for Mentors for Youth of Dubois County, a local nonprofit that facilitates a youth mentoring program and provides college scholarships for the area’s high school students.
“Ellen Corn abused her position of trust and stole from an organization dedicated to serving and mentoring local youth,” said Tom Wheeler, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, in a news release. “Her crimes not only harmed the program and its ability to serve young people but also betrayed the trust of the public who support and rely on its mission. This sentence holds her accountable and demonstrates our commitment to protecting community nonprofits from fraud and financial exploitation.”
Erin Kidwell, Mentors for Youth’s executive director, emailed a lengthy statement to The Indiana Lawyer.
Kidwell said the organization had “long since turned the page” since Corn left in 2022 and had made 40 mentor/mentee matches over the past few years.
“It is our most fervent hope that this outcome serves as a deterrent to other individuals who would violate the trust of the philanthropic community and take resources from children and other vulnerable members of our society,” Kidwell said, noting that Mentors for Youth has been serving children in Dubois County for 38 years and is the only community-based youth mentoring program in the county.
Barry Blackard, an attorney for Corn, did not immediately respond for comment.
During her time with the organization—formally known as Big Brothers Big Sisters—Corn held several financial responsibilities, including handling accounting software and having access to the organization’s credit card.
With that access, Corn stole a total of $161,344 from the organization to pay for personal expenses at places such as Amazon, Target and Walmart, and to pay her children’s college tuition.
Reportedly, she made about 1,226 unauthorized transactions with the organization’s credit card, she made several unauthorized transactions from the organization’s PayPal account to her personal PayPal account and she made unauthorized purchases directly from the nonprofit’s checking account.
To make sure the nonprofit had enough funds to pay for her personal expenses, Corn would reduce funding for certain departments and programs, and in 2022, she also did not notify a first-generation college student that they had been selected to receive a scholarship.
To conceal her fraud, Corn deliberately omitted her transactions from the organization’s accounting records, which she would regularly present to its board of directors and tax preparer.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Jasper Police Department.
This story has been updated with comments from Mentors for Youth.
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