A former Linden schoolteacher pled guilty this morning to three counts of 4th degree falsifying records, said Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow.
Kimberly DeMatteo DOB: 9/28/1970 of Howell and her husband were charged last November after prosecutors discovered that Between Aug 22, 2007 – January 30, 2008 DeMatteo regularly submitted paperwork suggesting that she was in two places at the same time.
Linden BOE officials were notified by a concerned parent who said DeMatteo kept an irregular after school teaching pattern. After reviewing the paperwork the BOE passed the investigation onto the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation also revealed that DeMatteo was also employed by Sunny Days Childhood Developmental Services Inc., a state-licensed business that provides in home developmental services for children under the age of three-years-old who are either developmentally delayed or autistic.
According to Assistant Prosecutor Ann Rubin, who is handing the case, paperwork shows that between August 2005 – January 2006 DeMatteo allegedly double billed Sunny Days for services, saying she was with two clients at the same time.
Additionally, she was billing Sunny Days for seeing its clients while at the same time she was billing the Linden Board of Education for regular teaching and after school home instruction, said Rubin.
As part of her plea deal, DeMatteo will surrender her position in Linden and will be barred from ever seeking public employment, said Rubin.
She will be sentenced on June 15, 2009 before Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz. The case was transferred to Middlesex County because DeMatteo has a family member who works for the judiciary in Union County .
Last month, DeMatteo’s husband, Michael Maurer DOB 2/16/1974 of Howell pled guilty yesterday to two counts of 4th degree falsifying records, admitting he inflated hours on his time sheets for teaching students in a home instruction program.
He will likely receive non-custodial probation when he is sentenced on June 1 before Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz.
According to the investigation, Maurer routinely falsified time sheets from 2005 – 2007, billing the Linden Board of Education for services he did not provide.
As part of his guilty plea he forfeited his position with the Linden BOE and is barred from ever seeking public employment in New Jersey, said Rubin. |
