A 30-year-old Brown County woman faces 10 felony charges of perjury, one felony count of welfare fraud and one felony count of theft after an investigation revealed she received more than $30,000 in food stamp benefits she was not entitled to get.
An investigation by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Compliance Division alleges that Kylie Roberts, of Brown Hill Road, did not report that the father of her three children was living with her when she applied for food stamp benefits over the past five years.
He was working a Columbus company while she received benefits, according to charging information filed in Brown Circuit Court on July 3.
From July 2014 to February 2019, investigators allege that Roberts received $33,481 in SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps.
To receive SNAP benefits, applicants are required to report the names and income of everyone living in their household.
Roberts had completed 10 interviews for re-certification of her benefits with the Brown County Division of Family Resources, starting in December 2014. Each time, she stated that only she and her three minor children lived in her home. Each time, she signed an affirmation that everything she supplied was correct and an acknowledgement that if it wasn’t, she could be charged with perjury, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court.
On Nov. 9, 2018, an anonymous report was made that Roberts may have committed fraud related to her public assistance.
On Jan. 7, 2019, Roberts did not complete her interview to receive benefits, so the Brown County Division of Family Resources ended up denying her application.
Court records show that the couple was married on Feb. 14, 2019, in Bartholomew County.
Investigators gathered reports from multiple sources that the couple had been living together from 2014 to this year, including records from Roberts’ husband’s employer, bank accounts, tax records, police reports, water bills, school records and a family obituary.
Roberts was booked into the Brown County jail at 2 p.m. July 9 and was released about 30 minutes later after posting $5,000 bond. Her initial court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday, July 23.
When reached last week by phone, her attorney, Daniel Vandivier of Franklin, declined to answer any questions about the case.
