Complaint Review: Williamson County CPS Caseworker Leslie St. Aubin - Taylor Texas

According to an article in the Thursday, February 1, 2007 edition of the Austin American Statesman to be found on page B6 of the Metro & State section:

CASEWORKER JAILED IN GIFT CARD THEFT

$200 donation was intended for child in state care, police say

A state Child Protective Services caseworker is accused of stealing a $200 gift card that was intended as a Christmas present for a child in protective custody.

Leslie Alexandria St.Aubin, 45, was arrested Monday ( January 29, 2007) and charged with two counts of felony credit card abuse and one misdemeanor count of theft by a public servant.

According to court documents, police discovered that St.Aubin had used the Target gift card as they were investigating a report of credit card abuse at the Target and Wal-Mart stores in Georgetown, Texas on December 19, (2006).

Police determined that Georgetown attorney Sara Naylor had intended for the gift card to be anonymously donated to a child who was in the state's care as a Christmas gift.

St. Aubin had told Naylor that the child received the gift card and used it to purchase musicCDs but the child told Naylor that he had never received it.

In court documents, police say St. Aubin used a stolen credit card to buy food and household goods at a Wal-Mart and clothing at Targe;the card's owner had mistakenly left it in a card reader at the Target store.

The gift card was usedf in the same transaction as a stolen credit card, the court documents alleged.

St. Aubin could not be reached for comment Wednesday, (2 Feb 2006).

Public records show that St. Aubin was arrested in March, 2005 and charged with theft by check, She pleaded no contest to issuance of a bad check, a Class C misdemeanor offense, in July 2005 and was ordered to pay a $25 fine and court costs.

St. Aubin has been employed by the Department of Family and Protective Services as a CPS caseworker since November 2005, said Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the department.

St. Aubin received about three months of training before starting work as a caseworker who monitors children's progress once they are in state custody in WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Van Deusen said.

There are 10 such caseworkers including St. Aubin in WILLIAMSON COUNTY, with an average of about 52 cases each, he said.

All department employees must pass a criminal background check before they are hired, Van Deusen said. The department is working with law enforcement to investigate the allegations ( against St. Aubin), he said.

"We want to determine exactly what happened,"Van Deusen said. " There hasn't been any disciplinary action yet but that's certainly a possibility."

St. Aubin was also being held in connection with a misdemeanor theft by check case in Travis County, Texas, She remained in the Williamson County Jail on Wednesday with a bail set at $36,000.

AS MUCH TAXES AS I AM PAYING AND THIS WOMAN ALLEGEDLY CAN'T MAKE ENDS MEET ON HER SALARY???

IS SOMEONE RIPPING OFF HER MONEY SOMEHOW?

WHAT A RIP-OFF FOR US TAXPAYERS!!!!!!

NOT ONLY THAT, WHY CAN'T THEY HIRE SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT EVEN HAS HAD AS MUCH AS A BAD CHECK? EVER. A PERSON I KNOW APPLIED FOR THAT JOB AND WAS TURNED DOWN BECAUSE IT IS WHO YOU KNOW INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU KNOW IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TEXAS!

THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES NEEDS TO TAKE A VERY GOOD LOOK AT THE PERSON WHO SPONSORED/ RECOMMENDED THIS WOMAN FOR EMPLOYMENT AND NOT HIRE ANYONE ELSE HE/SHE RECOMMENDS!

Anonymous

Somewhere in Williamson County, Texas
U.S.A.