WICHITA— A former employee of Lake Afton Public Observatory in Goddard has returned $1,600 in misappropriated funds as part of a plea deal with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office.
On June 17, Harold Henderson, 56, of Wichita, returned the funds in the form of a cashier’s check and entered a plea to a single misdemeanor count of giving a worthless check, according to the district attorney's office.
Judge David Dahl sentenced Henderson to time served. Henderson was the director and treasurer for the observatory until 2019, where he was authorized to use a debit card and checkbook to make official purchases for the organization.
A financial audit showed Henderson made several unauthorized transactions totaling $1,604.90 from August 2017 to March 2019.
Henderson was charged in April of this year with misdemeanor theft, but those charges were reduced to giving a worthless check in return for full reimbursement to the observatory. The case was investigated by the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department.
Lake Afton Public Observatory is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with the mission of providing astronomy education to the public. The observatory relies solely on admissions and donations to continue providing educational opportunities to the public.