By Michael Gryboski, Editor Wednesday, September 24, 2025

A public school employee has been arrested and charged with stealing more than $10,000 from a South Carolina church.

Jennifer Dixon-Hooks was arrested on Tuesday and charged with Breach of Trust Greater Than $10,000 for the alleged theft of funds from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church of Darlington County.

According to a statement from the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office, a local magistrate issued Dixon-Hooks a $25,000 bond and ordered her not to contact church trustees.

In addition to the sheriff’s office, the incident is being investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the South Carolina Probation, Pardon and Parole. More charges could follow.

According to authorities, Dixon-Hooks committed the theft on or between the dates of Jan. 1, 2022, and July 19, with her allegedly taking “church funds for personal gain valuing over $10,000 without the church’s authorization or consent.”

Dixon-Hooks had been an employee of the Darlington County School District and a longtime resident of the county, according to ABC News affiliate WPDE.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Pastor Eugene Thomas spoke to the court, explaining that Dixon-Hooks and her family were still welcome to attend worship, noting that the “congregation has a very forgiving heart.”

“This has truly been a trying time for us,” said Thomas, according to WPDE. “We are divided over this. We tried to handle this in-house. But we could not. We could not on July 19. We voted then to turn it over to the authorities and let them handle it.”

In July, Pleasant Grove Baptist Church experienced a severe fire that required multiple fire trucks to respond and effectively destroyed the building, reported WBTV.

While an unnamed source told WPDE earlier this month that the church fire was likely an arson, Darlington County Sheriff's Office stated that the investigation is still ongoing.

“We have not received any information to indicate this incident as being classified as arson. This incident is classified as undetermined, and the investigation is still open and ongoing,” stated the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office statement about Dixon-Hooks’ arrest did not comment on whether the two incidents are linked.