Booster club president accused of stealing thousands

LAKELAND (FOX 13) - The president of a Polk County booster club was placed under arrest, and the kids he was supposed to be helping may now be out of luck after the money raised for the club is gone.

Aaron Wilborn is known around town as a very nice guy. He even has the 10 Commandments on his front lawn. That may be impressive to passersby, but not to Polk Sheriff Grady Judd.

"I don't want to add anything to the Bible, but I have a rule here at the Sheriff's Office," said Judd. "If thou steals, thou goes to jail."

Jail is where Wilborn ended up after being charged with grand theft and scheming to defraud.

Investigators say he stole more than $9,800 from the Kathleen High School Athletic Booster Club. They say he used the club's debit cards 344 times to buy, pretty much, whatever he wanted.

"He paid 12 cell phone bills. He put fuel in his vehicles on 149 occasions. He purchased food, small amounts of food on 85 different occasions," said Judd.

Investigators said Wilborn told them he didn't steal anything. He was just reimbursing himself for money he spent on the kids.

Ruby Lewis, former vice president of the booster club, said she didn't know anything about the organization's finances, but spoke highly of Wilborn as a person.

"He does tutoring. He'll assist [the kids]," she said. "He'll try to make sure they have everything they need. Everything was all about Kathleen High School."

However, Judd says the bottom line is - the club's bottom line came up thousands of dollars short.

"It should be all about the children," said Judd. "Aaron made sure it was all about him."