BENTONVILLE -- A former Arkansas State Police employee received probation Thursday after she admitted tampering with child abuse case reports.
Whitney Adams, 50, of Lavaca pleaded guilty to tampering with a public record, a felony.
Stuart Cearley, chief deputy prosecutor, told Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren that Adams falsified documents as a civilian investigator with the Crimes Against Children Division.
Adams was arrested Oct. 27. She was accused of fabricating reports in 43 cases in Benton and Washington counties, according to court documents.
She was hired Sept. 29, 2014, to investigate allegations of child maltreatment received on the state's Child Abuse Hotline, State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said. A supervisor for Crimes Against Children questioned the integrity of investigative reports prepared by Adams during a random audit in January 2016, according to Sadler.
Adams was questioned by the commander of the Crimes Against Children Division and the department's Office of Professional Standards on Jan. 13, 2016. She was placed on administrative leave that day. Adams submitted her resignation a day later, according to Sadler.
State Police reviewed the 149 cases assigned to Adams to confirm the safety of the children who had been the subjects of the cases assigned to her.
Adams was assigned a case June 21, 2015, involving a child who was burned on a stove in his home, according to a probable cause affidavit. Adams documented she had a face-to-face interview with the child but admitted later to a State Police investigator she didn't interview the child, according to the court document. A police report stated a Benton County Sheriff's Office detective spoke to the child by telephone.
Adams was assigned a case Oct. 9, 2015, involving a boy who reportedly had been sexually assaulted when he was 3, according to the affidavit. Adams reported she met with the boy and his father in their home. She later told the investigator she didn't do any interviews with the boy, witnesses or suspects, and she didn't do a face-to face-interview, the affidavit said.
Adams was placed on state-supervised probation for five years. Her record can be expunged if she successfully completes probation. She also must complete 120 hours of community service within three years.
Adams and her attorney, Ernie Whitt, declined to comment after the hearing.
NW News on 05/12/2017