City of Dunnellon official, youth pastor accused of using city funds to pay for $14K summer camp

A Dunnellon city official who also serves as a local youth pastor was arrested this week after he allegedly used a city-issued credit card to pay nearly $15,000 for a church summer camp.

On Thursday, City of Dunnellon Community Development Manager William Grady Ary, 33, was arrested at Dunnellon City Hall, according to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

The agency’s investigation began two days earlier when the city’s financial officer reported a suspected fraudulent charge on a city credit card exclusively assigned to Ary. The transaction, which reportedly occurred on June 11, was for $14,874.53 and was paid to “Real Life Camp,” a Christian summer camp located in Vero Beach.

Ary serves as a youth pastor for the Dunnellon Community Church, according to the report.

When confronted by city finance staff about the hefty charge, Ary allegedly claimed he had “no clue” about the transaction.

However, investigators contacted the finance director of the summer camp, who stated that Ary had called her on July 2 to inquire about reversing the transaction. The camp director reportedly told Ary he needed to pay the full amount with a different card before the previous charge could be refunded to the city’s credit card.

According to the report, a Dunnellon Community Church member subsequently split the nearly $15,000 payment across three different credit cards, and the original city-issued credit card was refunded.

During an interview with an MCSO corporal at City Hall, Ary provided a sworn written statement claiming he did not make the charge in question. However, he allegedly proceeded to change his story, telling the corporal that he might have used the city credit card “on accident” when reaching into his pocket, according to the report.  

The corporal mentioned in the report that the church’s credit card is bright blue, while the city-issued credit card is gray, and both cards have a different billing zip code that would need to be correctly entered into the online payment portal in order to complete the nearly $15,000 transaction. According to the corporal’s notes, the physical evidence appeared to “strongly disprove” Ary’s claims that the payment had been accidentally charged to the city-issued credit card.

Ary was placed under arrest, booked into Marion County Jail, and released the following day after posting bond. He is facing charges of grand theft of property valued between $10,000 and $20,000, fraudulent use of a credit card, and perjury when not in an official proceeding.

A court date for Ary has not yet been scheduled, according to jail records.