Orange school board member resigns

Whitling charged with embezzling

HILLSBOROUGH -- Orange County school board member Dennis Whitling resigned Monday after being indicted on a charge of embezzlement and related charges.

Whitling was arrested Thursday and charged with embezzlement in excess of $100,000, false pretense, corporate malfeasance and obstruction of justice, according to Durham police. His bail was set at $75,000, then reduced to $10,000. He posted it that day.

A Durham Police Department investigator applied in December for access to Whitling's personal bank account information, according to a search warrant.

In the warrant, Detective Cpl. Bennie E. Bradley wrote that Whitling left the Durham firm owned by Thomas J. Stevens in 2007 to start his own business and may have stolen more than $58,000 from the law office where he worked from 1984 to 2007.

In 2006 and 2007, Bradley wrote, Whitling wrote himself checks for more money than was authorized, and "in 2006 Whitling issued himself six checks totaling $23,318.93 in payments not authorized by Mr. Stevens," according to the search warrant.

Durham police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said the corporate malfeasance charge alleges that Whitling made false entries in the books or ledgers of the corporation. The obstruction charge alleges that Whitling filed an annual report with false information.

The alleged incidents occurred between December 2005 and September 2007. The law firm reported them in November.

In a written statement that Chairman Ted Triebel read at Monday night's school board meeting, Whitling wrote: "For almost four years I have served as a member of the Orange County Board of Education. I sincerely thank the citizens of the Orange County School District for giving me this opportunity. I have enjoyed working with my fellow board members, both past and present, in improving the educational opportunities for our students. It is with deep regret that I hereby resign as a member of the Orange County School Board of Education."

A woman answering the phone at Whitling's office Tuesday said he would have nothing else to say.

Whitling was elected to the school board in 2004 and served as chairman in 2006 and 2007. His seat expires June 30.

The board will not replace him before the election May 6, school system spokesman Mike Gilbert said.

(Staff writers Stanley Chambers and Anne Blythe contributed to this report.)