Former teacher pays restitution

A former Three Rivers High School teacher who has pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor embezzlement, has repaid $17,000 in restitution, according to St. Joseph County court officials.
Thirty-three-year-old Sara Freeman, a Burr Oak resident, made the restitution payment before a Friday deadline last week. County Prosecutor John McDonough had set the restitution amount and May 22 deadline during an earlier court appearance.
Had Freeman not made restitution by that date, she would have faced a full charge of felony embezzlement more than $20,000 but less than $50,000.
Freeman is awaiting sentencing in the case, in which over a three-year period she used her position as yearbook advisor to take advantage of finances meant for the publication and its production.
She is no longer employed by the district.