Delaware principal who embezzled $162,000 gets 18 months in prison

A federal judge has sentenced the former principal of a New Castle charter school to 18 months in prison for embezzling $162,000 over a four-year period.

Sean Moore, 44, headed the Family Foundations Academy and stole the money between 2011 and 2015. The elementary school is now called the Charter School of New Castle, and has moved to another location in the New Castle area.

In November, Moore pleaded guilty to three counts of federal program theft. He attributed the crimes in part to “a severe level of sexual addiction and shopping addiction.”

Moore had opened an unauthorized credit card in the school’s name, bought iPads with school funds and then sold them online for cash. He skimmed the school’s fundraising account, and used the embezzled money to buy personal items such as food, entertainment, electronics, gas, travel, shoes, jewelry and hotel stays.

David Weiss, acting U.S. Attorney for Delaware, issued a statement condemning Moore for “acting out of self-interest and greed… That is egregious. The sentence imposed today holds him accountable for cheating children, their families and the taxpayers.”

Added Geoffrey Wood of the U.S. Department of Education, which provides federal funding to Moore’s former school and others in Delaware: “Mr. Moore knowingly and willfully abused his position of trust for personal gain and did so at the expense of the educational development of children. That is unacceptable.”