A former St. Joseph County Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) employee has pleaded guilty after she was accused of stealing restitution payments from juvenile offenders.
Jennie Schultz, 42, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft and official misconduct of a public servant, a Level 6 felony, Thursday.
WNDU reports she will be sentenced on Nov. 12, and any jail time will be capped at six months. She will also be ordered to pay restitution.
According to court documents, Schultz worked in the probation department of the JJC. As part of her duties, she was required to accept and process payments toward restitution victims.
In January, the Director of Human Resources noticed a missing $50 restitution payment that was not credited to the juvenile’s judgement. The juvenile offender had a receipt showing the payment was entered into the system, but it was actually just a screenshot from a computer screen – the actual payment was never finalized.
Schultz was the employee working at the time of the missing payment, and when confronted, she reportedly admitted to stealing restitution payments.
She was suspended without pay on January 14, and was later fired.
Schultz admits to stealing almost $500 from juvenile offenders.
