Levittown Man Stole to Avoid Foreclosure, Pay for Strippers, Police Say

The former finance director for Lower Southampton, Robert S. Butts, 53, surrendered to police Friday to face charges that he stole $24,000 from the Middletown Athletic Association.

Phillyburbs.com reports that while Butts was the treasurer of MAA, he withdrew $20,000 from the association’s account in Feb. 2012 to try and save his home on Homestead Road in Levittown from foreclosure.

Detectives also found that Butts, between 2011 and 2012, used the association’s debit card to charge $4,490 at the Oakford Inn, a strip club at the border of Bensalem, Lower Southampton and Middletown near the Neshaminy Mall, the article states.

Butts was fired from his township position on Friday after the arrest, said Lower Township Manager John McMenamin. He had been suspended pending dismissal when the township learned of Butts’ imminent arrest.

“[Before Butts was hired] we got a criminal background check by the state police and checked all his references,” McMenamin said. Butts’ financial troubles were, “not revealed” during the interview process.

Butts was hired as Lower Southampton’s finance director in January 2012. His job is now listed as “vacant” on the township’s website.

According to court records, Butts is charged with Theft by Unlawful Taking, Theft by Deception-False Impression, Receiving Stolen Property and more.

He was released on $25,000 unsecured bail and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday.