Indiana superintendent charged for paying for student's medical treatment with her insurance

ELWOOD, Ind. (WXIN) -- Elwood's superintendent faces several charges after police say she sought medical treatment for a student using her son's name.

Charges against Casey Smitherman include official misconduct, insurance fraud, insurance application fraud and identity deception.

According to court documents, a 15-year-old student didn't come to school on Jan. 9 because he had a sore throat. Smitherman picked him up and took him to the med check in Elwood so a doctor could examine him. However, she signed the student in under her son's name and also had a prescription for Amoxicillin filled at CVS under her son's name.

The teen tore 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.

Police received a tip about the situation and followed up with the teen's guardian on Jan. 16. A day later, Smitherman talked to Elwood police about the situation.

During her statement, she told police she realized the student wasn't at school on Jan. 9 and was worried about him. In the past, she's bought clothes for him and helped clean his house, according to court documents.

She said she didn't contact the Department of Child Services because she feared the teen would be placed in foster care.

She admitted taking him to the med check and signing him in under her son's name. She also said she'd taken him to CVS to get a prescription; she said she had the prescription filled under her son's name. She dropped the boy off at home with the prescription and said she didn't realized he'd torn the name off the bottle.

Medical records obtained by subpoena showed a prescription was filled under her son's name on Jan. 9. The total claim was $233, according to court documents. Police contacted the Department of Child Services to advice them that "financial help may be needed" for the teen.