ELWOOD, Ind. — The superintendent of Elwood Community Schools is facing several charges as she’s been accused of seeking medical treatment for a student by using her son’s name, according to police. WXIN said charges against Casey Smitherman include insurance fraud, official misconduct, insurance application fraud and identity deception stemming from events on Jan. 9, according to court documents. That’s when according to court documents, a 15-year-old student didn’t come to school because he had a sore throat, so Smitherman picked him up and took him to a med check in Elwood to see a doctor, WXIN reported.
Smitherman is being accused of signing the student in under her son’s name and also having a prescription for Amoxicillin filled at CVS using her son’s name. According to WXIN, the teen removed the name off the bottle’s label because he”knew it was wrong” and “to have a prescription in his possession with a different name is bad,” court documents said. Authorities reported Smitherman also described the same situation in a statement, WXIN reported.
WXIN said police received a tip about the situation and followed up with the teen’s guardian on Jan. 16. A day later, during a statement to Elwood police, Smitherman told police she realized the student wasn’t at school on Jan. 9 and was “worried about him,” and according to court documents helped him in the past. She told police she didn’t contact the Department of Child Services because she feared he’d be placed in foster care, the documents said.
>> Read Smitherman’s statement
Message from ECSC School Board President:
“You may have seen recent reports that our Superintendent, Dr. Casey Smitherman, was charged with 3 felonies and a misdemeanor. Dr. Smitherman was acting on behalf of a child’s health and well being and made a mistake to do what she believed was right for this student.
She is cooperating with authorities, including the prosecutor’s office, and we expect that the prosecutor will file a diversion this afternoon, which means that if Dr. Smitherman is not arrested in 12 months, the charges will be dropped.
Dr. Smitherman has been very transparent with the school board about her actions and has our support.
We ask that you direct any questions or concerns directly to school board president Brent Kane at [email protected].”
According to WRTV, Smitherman returned to work Thursday and reached an agreement with the county prosecutor consisting of no more arrests for a year and the fraud charges get dropped.
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