MONROE - Former Monroe High School Athletic Director Dave Hirsbrunner was charged Wednesday with theft and office fraud more than a year after he resigned from his position for mishandling athletic funds.

Hirsbrunner, 48, faces a Class I felony count of theft and three Class I felony counts of office fraud.

Hirsbrunner, who became Monroe's athletic director in 2010, was placed on paid administrative leave in November 2015 for undisclosed reasons. By the end of that month, Hirsbrunner resigned, paying the district $6,390 in a separation agreement.

District administrators were tight-lipped regarding the reasons for Hirsbrunner's dismissal, with the only reason given being "performance issues related to the supervision of athletic program revenues," as mentioned in the separation agreement.

However, a criminal complaint revealed Wednesday that Hirsbrunner had allegedly stolen money from ticket sales to district sporting events and falsified receipts to cover his tracks.

The complaint, which was written by a Stoughton Police detective because of his lack of personal connection with the district, alleges that Hirsbrunner took $2,950 from the ticket sales of several sporting events over three years.

The detective interviewed Denise Plantenberg, accounting secretary for Monroe High School, who said that Hirsbrunner changed the athletic department's money-handling procedures shortly after he started the job. Hirsbrunner's new procedures had him taking ticket proceeds directly from ticket sellers before handing it over to Plantenberg.

Plantenberg said Hirsbrunner would often return slightly less money than the ticket sellers reported, which she initially attributed to incompetence before she began suspecting Hirsbrunner's son of stealing. However, when the discrepancies continued after Hirsbrunner's son's graduation, Plantenberg shifted her suspicions onto Hirsbrunner himself.

Plantenberg said she was hesitant to report her suspicions to district officials because Hirsbrunner's wife, Cory Hirsbrunner, was the district superintendent and therefore Plantenberg's boss. Cory Hirsbrunner stepped down as superintendent when her contract expired Friday after submitting a letter of resignation in August 2016.

The ticket sellers, Monroe High School teachers Kristin Bansley and Sherri M. Hendrickson, also became suspicious of Hirsbrunner and began independently documenting the amount of money made in ticket sales. In September of 2015, Plantenberg, Bansley and Hendrickson notified MHS Principal Chris Medenwaldt of their suspicions and were asked to keep documenting the discrepancies for an internal investigation.

Ron Olson, business administrator for the district, said he found nearly $5,000 of discrepancies between gate fees and the money Hirsbrunner deposited since he was hired.

Plantenberg, Bansley and Hendrickson furnished the detective with documentation of gate fees from 15 sporting events between December 2014 and October 2015. All but one of these records revealed discrepancies of roughly 10 to 20 percent between the amount of money made and the amount Hirsbrunner reported.

Three of these incidents, on Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Sept. 18, 2015, became the basis of Hirsbrunner's three counts of office fraud.

Green County Circuit judges James Beer and Thomas Vale recused themselves from Hirsbrunner's case on Friday, citing their personal connection with Hirsbrunner. A replacement judge has not yet been named.

Hirsbrunner's initial court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 7. If found guilty, his charges carry a maximum possible sentence of six years in prison.