PATASKALA, Ohio (WCMH) – A Licking County woman has been charged with stealing approximately $12,500 in Girl Scout cookie sale funds and event fees.

Jill Gauthier, 49, of Pataskala, was recently indicted by a Licking County grand jury on one fourth-degree felony count of theft, according to Ohio Attorney General David Yost’s office.

Gauthier was a troop leader who over approximately five years, allegedly deposited cookie money and event fees collected from troop members into personal bank accounts, Yost said. Yost alleges that Gauthier used the money for personal purchases.

The investigation began after parents alerted authorities.

The investigation was conducted by the Charitable Law Section of the attorney general’s office and the Pataskala Police Department.

Gauthier is scheduled to appear back in court on May 5.

“She was literally caught with her hand in the cookie jar — an adult-size jar that should carry an adult-size timeout in a place with locking doors and barred windows,” Yost said in a press release announcing the arrest. “How many boxes of Thin Mints will her troop need to sell to make up for her betrayal?”