Published 11:28 am Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Former Hamilton Christian Academy bookkeeper Anna Theriot has been ordered by Judge Lee Hoffoss to pay $4,191 in restitution to the school after pleading no contest last fall to a misdemeanor theft charge of less than $1,000. That amount is to be included as part of the $10,718 Theriot has already made in restitution.
Theriot was originally accused of forging checks and stealing more than $25,000 from the school; the forgery charges have since been dropped.
Theriot joined the staff of Hamilton in late 2020 as an admissions officer. Bookkeeping was later added to her employment duties and she was given full access to the school’s checking accounts and debit card.
During an audit of the school’s books, unauthorized checks made out to “cash” and Theriot personally — as well as unauthorized purchases from Amazon and Target that were shipped to Theriot’s home — were discovered. The audit found $10,965.55 was taken from the school’s checking account and $12,505.54 was withdrawn using the debit card.
Theriot testified in her own defense during a May 13 hearing, stating she never received training from Hamilton for the bookkeeping job and obtained seed money for athletic events by writing checks to “cash” or herself that were also signed by the school’s principal, Morgan Daugherty. She said the purchases from Target and Amazon were for school supplies and furniture for school use and introduced Facebook posts showing the items listed in the forensic audit report.
She did, however, admit that some of the purchases — women’s shoes, women’s and girl’s clothing, a wedding centerpiece, kitchen supplies, and bathroom amenities totaling $3,603.51 — were not intended for school purposes.
Hamilton Christian Board President Sharon Wilson acknowledged during the hearing that the school had little, if any, written procedures and board members “weren’t very good supervisors.” Daugherty was not called to testify.
In a ruling issued this week by Judge Lee Hoffoss, the court found there was no testimony presented to rebut Theriot’s explanation.
“Based not only on testimony, but also the close coordination of dates with athletic schedules introduced into evidence and the lack of other evidence showing any duplicating seed money, the court finds her explanations to be credible,” Hoffoss wrote.
As to the purchases made to Amazon and Target, Hoffoss ruled the state failed to introduce any evidence proving Theriot used the supplies for personal reasons and kept them at her home. “Again, Morgan Daugherty or any other school employee with an opposing explanation may have been sufficient to satisfy the preponderance of evidence standard, but none was offered.”
Hoffoss ordered Theriot pay $4,191.01 in restitution to the school, noting he was including that number as part of the $10,718.56 she already paid as part of her plea agreement; therefore no additional restitution was expected.
“This court does not seek to diminish the illegal actions of Anna Theriot,” Hoffoss ruled. “She was placed in a position of trust, and she took advantage of lax oversight from her supervisors and board members all to her enrichment and at a pecuniary loss to Hamilton Christian Academy.”
Theriot’s attorney, Todd Clemons, said Hoffoss’ ruling offered “vindication” to his client.
“Anna Theriot was originally charged with theft (between $5,000 and $25,000) and forgery (7 counts). On Oct. 2, 2025, we reached an extensively negotiated settlement with the District Attorney’s Office. Anna pleaded no contest to theft (less than $1,000), which is a misdemeanor. Our client, in the spirit of compromise and moving on with her life, agreed to pay $10,718.56 to Hamilton. While Anna and her husband promptly paid that amount, they always maintained that it exceeded the actual loss to HCA.
“We argued, and Judge Hoffoss agreed, that the law in Louisiana is very clear on this topic. The amounts that citizens are required to pay in restitution must be limited to ‘actual pecuniary loss’ to the victim,” Clemons continued. “Not some absurd speculative amount that HCA was trying to obtain from the Theriots.”
