School Secretary Stole From Woodbridge Boys' Soccer Team: Police

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — One of the adult managers of the Woodbridge High School boys' soccer team has been charged with stealing money from the team, Woodbridge Twp. police announced Wednesday.

The woman who was arrested is also employed as a secretary at Woodbridge High School. Stacey Castro, 47, of the Sewaren section of Woodbridge, has been arrested and charged with one count of theft by unlawful taking.

Woodbridge police said they first started investigating on Feb. 8: Woodbridge school employees informed schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Zega that money was missing from the boys' soccer team.

Castro was in charge of handling the money for the high school team, police say. Police say that for more than a year, more than $6,000 that was received from student fundraisers, donations and club dues was electronically transferred from the boys' soccer team account into Castro's personal checking account. Police said Castro then personally withdrew the money from ATMs. Other times she never even deposited the money into the soccer club account at all, police say.

This continued for more than a year, police say. (This is not the rec sports team associated with the Woodbridge Township Youth Soccer Association.)

Castro has been suspended, with pay, from her job with the Woodbridge school district during this investigation. When asked by Patch, Woodbridge Police Director Robert Hubner said he did not know if Castro was the mother of a child on the team.

This is hardly the first time an adult has been charged with stealing money from kids' sports teams: In tony Rumson, the dad who ran the Rumson-Fair Haven Touchdown Club was arrested just this past January and charged with stealing more than $25,000 from the team. He was charged with third-degree theft. That charge can carry a prison time, if convicted.

In Ocean County, a former elementary school PTO president was just charged on March 5 with stealing $14,000 from the PTO bank account.

Past Patch reporting:

Ex-Head Of Rumson-Fair Haven Touchdown Club Charged With Theft

Former Pine Beach Elementary PTO Pres. Stole $14K In Funds: OCPO