Former Dearborn Co. substance abuse director accused of theft

Accused of taking payroll funds and unauthorized expenditures

Photo: Hamilton County Sheriff

(LAWRENCEBURG, Ind.) -- The former executive director of the Dearborn County Community Advocating for Substance Abuse Awareness (CASA) is accused of theft.

Bevin Liosliath O Donnell was arrested in Hamilton County, Ohio, on Tuesday morning after a warrant was issued last month.

For clarity, she is listed as Bevin Liosliath Van Wassenhove in the probable cause affadavit.

In 2021, a whistleblower alleged a possible misappropriation of payroll funds and unauthorized expenditures totaling upwards of $65,000.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Bevin requested to go from a full-time to a part-time executive director in August 2021.

The CASA board agreed and amended her salary to reflect the change. Prosecutors say Bevin never notified the organization's accounting firm of the change of salary.

"Therefore her salary remained the same when she was working part-time for CASA," investigators said.

Board members told police they found out that Bevin was not performing assigned tasks for CASA, wasn't reporting her hours, and allegedly made several purchases not approved by the board.

Bevin resigned the day after board members confronted her, according to the probable cause.

Investigators say she made more than 200 unauthorized expenditures totaling more than $38,000. Bevin is also accused of receiving an overpayment of compensation of $25,514.

Ripley County Prosecutor Ric Hertel was assigned as special prosecutor on the case.