GALLATIN, Tenn. -
A Gallatin woman has been arrested after she admitted to stealing more than $1,000 from an area church on at least two separate occasions.
Christa Annette Smith told police she stole First United Methodist Church's banking information after the church assisted her boyfriend last year with his utility bill.
"She documented the routing number and account number on that checking account so she could abuse that later on," explained Bill Storment of the Gallatin Police Department.
According to police, the 37-year-old woman used the stolen checks to pay her cable bill and that her credit was so poor, she had to use her nine-year-old daughter's name to get service.
"She's been charged with two counts of identity theft and one count of theft of services," Storment said.
On Monday, Nashville's News 2 spoke with the church's financial secretary Marybeth Williams, who noticed the missing money during a routine check of the books.
"We never give anyone cash [and] we never write a check to an individual," she said.
Pastor Jerry Wallace told Nashville's News 2 despite the theft the church will continue to help those in need.
"All we can do on this side is to feel like we are doing what God has led us to do and then we can't control the outcome of what someone else does," he said.
The church's bank has covered the cost of the three checks, which total nearly $1,200.
