Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General Conway Announces Indictment of Former State Social Worker On Charges

Attorney General Jack Conway today announced that an Anderson County grand jury has returned an indictment against a former employee of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Community Based Services. The grand jury indicted 60-year-old Margaret “Geri” Murphy on nine counts of tampering with public records in connection with her role as a front-line employee investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect in Anderson County.

“My office began investigating this case after receiving a complaint from a citizen who had Murphy assigned to a court case involving her family,” Conway said.  “As we began to review Murphy’s cases, we believe she falsified information in multiple cases that were assigned by the Cabinet to investigate.”

Reports of abuse and neglect are assigned for investigation, after which a finding is made to substantiate or unsubstantiate the allegation. Documentation of the investigation includes a report titled a “Continuous Quality Assessment.” All of the charges allege that Murphy made a false entry in a “Continuous Quality Assessment” for the Department for Community Based Services in Anderson County. 

The Office of the Attorney General contacted the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to inform it that documents filed in court proceedings may have been falsified.

Prosecution of this case is being handled by the Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutions at the request of Laura Donnell, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 53rd Judicial Circuit representing Anderson, Shelby and Spencer counties.

All of the charges are Class D Felonies and carry a penalty of one to five years in prison each, as well as an additional penalty upon conviction of a fine up to $10,000.

An indictment is an accusation only. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.