Dahlonega woman steals more than $100K from Hall County church

HALL COUNTY, Ga. - The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said a Dahlonega woman stole more than $106,000 from the Gainesville church for which she worked.

Investigators said 49-year-old Alycia Christy, a former Northlake Baptist Church administrative assistant, was using church money to pay credit card bills.

Deputies believe she stole money from January 2018 until January 2021.

Hall County Sheriff’s deputies first responded to a call at Northlake Baptist Church on January 12.

Christy turned herself in on January 15, but news of the felony charges she’s facing shocked people who live nearby.

FOX 5 reached out to Northlake Baptist Church for comment. In a statement, a representative wrote:

"An employee was arrested by Hall County Sheriff’s Office for theft by taking. That employee has been terminated."

The church staffer directed all other questions to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and didn’t comment further.

Ann Hoopaugh goes to a church that often partners with Northlake. She said she hopes the investigators and the church find out why the suspected thief took such a large sum of money.

"I don’t know what the circumstance is, but obviously there’s something wrong with them. Something to want to have to steal the money for whatever reason but they needed the help for some reason," she said.

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