Daniel Moreira & Kaytlin Hill
dmoreir1@jccc.edu
khill48@jccc.edu
On August 14, we reported on a story of embezzlement conducted by our former adviser, Corbin Crable.
Since then, a few updates to Crable’s story came out. We decided to clarify and inform our readers of said updates, as well as answer a few questions which have been left unanswered.
Mailroom
Doubts remained regarding how Crable was only recently caught by the college after years of embezzling from Kansas Collegiate Media.
Chris Gray, associate vice president of strategic communications and marketing, College Communication and Planning, explained how the college found out about the embezzlement.
“The college received a bank statement of KCM with no name on it, and in our research to track down the employee it should have been addressed to [and] noticed some charges that did not look appropriate for the account and immediately alerted the organization,” Gray said.
To ensure they were not a victim of Crable’s embezzlement, the college checked its financial records.
“Immediately following [the college] audited our financials as a safeguard to ensure there was no discrepancies showing from any funds on our end as a precautionary measure… There is no connection between KCM and [the college], and there were only funds missing from KCM… which was verified through our processes and an audit of our accounts,” Gray said.
The college followed their undeliverable mail policy according to the InfoShare site.
“Undeliverable college mail returned to JCCC by the US Postal Service will be routed back to the original sender identified in the return address. In cases where the sender is not identified in the return address, college mail will be opened to determine the sender and routed accordingly.”
Position at Baker University
After leaving the college, Crable was set to assume a new position at Baker University as assistant professor in the Department of Mass Media and Visual Arts; however, his page on Baker University’s faculty is no longer available.
His name has almost been completely removed from Baker’s website. The only mention of Crable’s name at is in Baker’s 18-19 catalog, which lists Crable as an assistant professor.
Baker University did not comment on Crable, Thursday afternoon.
Past student’s response
Josh Armstrong, student, had Crable as his adviser in the Student News Center for more than a year.
“When I first found out, I was pretty shocked, honestly,” Armstong said. “My stomach dropped; my jaw was dropped too. It was very unexpected, I mean, being around him, he’s always seemed like the more ethical, one of the most ethical guys… who knows what is right and wrong. He would be the last guy I would ever suspect of doing anything like that.”
After reading Crable’s excuse for his actions, Armstrong gave his opinion on the justification.
“I think it was a bogus explanation,” Armstrong said. “Explaining that he did all of this because he has an addiction to spending? I really don’t think people will forgive him.”
Crable’s Facebook post
On the same day of our story’s publication, Crable posted an open apology letter on his Facebook profile. What follows are pieces from the letter:
“I have lived a double life that has been kept from all of you,” Crable said. “By now, I’m certain many of you have heard about a terrible violation of trust I have committed against the members of a professional organization of which I was an executive board member.”
Crable served as the treasurer for KCM from September 2014 to July 2017. During that period, Crable embezzled over $21,000 from the organization’s funds.
“I wanted to confirm this to you, in a full confession, and to apologize for the great hurt I’ve caused to the leaders and members of Kansas Collegiate Media,” Crable said.
When trying to explain his reasoning behind the crime, Crable mentioned an addiction to spending, which he blames for his actions.
“I’ve often asked myself how I could allow an addiction to completely ruin my friendships, my relationships with loved ones, my reputation, and all of the people I hold dear. I’ve lost all of those things in the past few weeks.”
In the closing statements of his letter, Crable briefly specified his plans for the future after his deeds became public.
Crable said, “I will be taking a significant amount of time off from social media as I try to focus on the self-care I have neglected for so long. There are many underlying issues behind my addiction to spending that I need to address. I am a broken person, whose sins have been laid bare for the world to see.”