SALYERSVILLE- A former Magoffin County Schools employee is facing misdemeanor charges after allegedly charging products to the school system that were reportedly not used at a school site.
According to the criminal complaint, Salyersville Police Department Chief Neil Adams was contacted by the Magoffin County School District regarding the theft of property belonging to the school system, with Superintendent Chris Meadows telling police he had been made aware of a situation involving a school employee who had charged a large amount of plumbing parts to the school system at Hometown Ace Hardware, with a value of $612.39.
Chief Adams contacted the employee, identified as Jeffery Watkins, 59, of Salyersville, who stated he had charged the items to repair a plumbing leak at the Magoffin County High School kitchen.
Multiple school personnel were interviewed by police, who all stated they were unaware of any such leak, according to court documents.
Watkins reportedly told police the leak had been called in to him, but could not give a name or the correct phone number of the caller, according to the court summons.
School personnel reviewed video footage from the dates in question and determined Watkins had not entered the kitchen on either of those dates, according to the complaint.
He could not produce any of the plumbing parts he had charged to the school system, stating to police he had used them to repair a leak, contrary to the video footage from the high school, according to the criminal complaint.
Watkins was served with a court summons on July 25 and is currently facing the charge of theft by unlawful taking or disposition all others, $500 < $1,000, a misdemeanor charge.
Watkins is set to be arraigned in the case on August 12, at 9 a.m. in the Magoffin County Justice Center.
Superintendent Chris Meadows confirmed to Mortimer Media Group that Watkins is no longer an employee of the Magoffin County School District.
Editor’s Note: The indictment or charge of a person by a grand jury or otherwise is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
