Ky. school PTO president charged with 45 counts of forgery, accused of theft from group

Valarie Honeycutt Spears
·1 min read
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The president of a Fleming County Parent Teacher Organization has been charged with 45 counts of second-degree forgery and one count of abuse of public trust, a Kentucky State Police citation said.

The charges come after Fleming County School board officials contacted state police Monday and said there was a misappropriations of PTO funds, according to the citation. Erica Martin Earlywine was arrested the next day.

Earlywine was the only person in the organization issued a debit card through Peoples Bank of Kentucky in Flemingsburg and there were numerous cash withdrawals and personal use debit card transactions made by her over the course of her presidency, the citation said.

There were also 45 checks that had the name of another PTO member forged on them by Earlywine, the citation alleged.

The abuse of public trust charge involved more than $10,000 and less than $100,000, according to court records.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Scott Ferrell, public affairs officer of the Morehead post, said Wednesday night he didn’t have additional information.

Fleming County Superintendent Brian Creasman did not immediately comment.

Earlywine’s first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday in Fleming District Court, according to online court records.

This is a developing story and may be updated.