Whispell enters guilty plea on theft charges

The former local administrative officer of the Tamaqua Salvation Army, Sharon Whispell, pleaded guilty to theft charges in Schuylkill County Court Wednesday.

On Tuesday, District Judge Stephen. J. Bayer ruled Tuesday there is enough evidence for arson charges to go to county court.

After an investigation over the summer, the Salvation Army found discrepancies in paperwork totaling $116,913.33, dating back to 2015. An audit illustrated $80,313.37 in fraudulent purchases submitted to the Salvation Army for reimbursement by Whispell between October 2015 and June 2019, and $36,599.96 in fraudulent purchases submitted to the United Way between April 2017 and 2019 for reimbursement.

Whispell, 53, was charged with theft by deception/false impression, theft by unlawful taking-movable property, receiving stolen property, theft by failure to make required dispensation of funds and tampering of records.

Whispell faces additional charges of arson, which were all bound over for county court following a lengthy testimony earlier this week. Earlier in September, police charged Whispell with starting a fire at the Tamaqua Salvation Army at 10 a.m. May 12 in a clothing donation storage room at the Corps Center, 105 W. Broad St.

“My entire career, all I’ve ever done is help administer to people, and the last thing I’d do is to harm another living soul,” Whispell said in September. “Especially since my daughter and grandchildren were in the building.”

Police said surveillance video from the center on the morning of the fire shows that Whispell was the only person who had access to the storage room where the fire took place.

A boy seen on video meeting with Whispell 10 minutes before the fire alarm reportedly told officers that he gave Whispell a cigarette lighter. He said she asked him to retrieve the lighter from the upstairs apartment.

Whispell was informed that there was smoke in the building two minutes before the fire alarm, but she did not attempt to use a fire extinguisher which was located near the storage room.

She allegedly told police that she could not use the extinguisher due to her asthma.

The alarm should have alerted the center’s alarm company, but there was a telephone problem in the building at the time.