“I NEEDED TO FILL THE GAPS IN MY FILES”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PROSECUTORS SAY FORMER DANVILLE HUMANE INVESTIGATOR PAULETTE DEAN FABRICATED OFFICIAL QUARTERLY REPORTS TO COVER MISSING FILES BEFORE A PUBLIC-RECORDS REQUEST… AND SHE HAS NOW PLEADED GUILTY IN DANVILLE CIRCUIT COURT.
Paulette Dean, the longtime director of the Danville Area Humane Society, has formally entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor offense.
Dean entered the plea on Thursday in Danville Circuit Court to a charge of destroying public records.
She had previously served as the city humane investigator for Danville.
The case began after Dean provided what she stated were quarterly humane investigator reports covering several years.
But police reviewed the records following the receipt of a Freedom of Information Act request.
Upon examining the submission, investigators uncovered an issue with the paperwork.
Investigators said all 22 reports appeared to be copies of the exact same document.
According to investigators, only the dates on the records had been changed.
Virginia state law sets explicit mandates for humane investigators.
Under the statute, investigators are required to document each investigation they conduct.
State law also mandates that investigators retain those records for five years.
Alabama man Charles Carson-Dowdy shot ex-girlfriend 14 times, ran over her body three times: prosecutors
Unthinkable Depravity: Mother Charged With Trafficking Her 4- and 7-Year-Old Daughters While Scrolling TikTok Inside Squalid Home
Kalamazoo Babysitter Tiffany Briana Moore Convicted of Felony Murder in Death of 15-Month-Old Jermany Coleman
Furthermore, investigators must submit quarterly reports to the agency overseeing animal control.
Prosecutors said Dean later acknowledged creating some documents on May 31 or June 1.
She acknowledged making the records to fill gaps in her files while anticipating a possible FOIA request.
And she reportedly told investigators that older records had been thrown away.
Dean had served as Danville’s humane investigator since about 1998.
Her tenure concluded when she resigned on July 15, 2026.
Then the matter proceeded to court for resolution.
Under the plea agreement, the court deferred disposition of the case.
The deferral remains in place as long as Dean maintains peace and good behavior.
Prosecutors stated that the agreement took several mitigating circumstances into account.
They cited her formal acceptance of responsibility for the conduct.
And prosecutors pointed to her roughly 30 years of public service and her lack of a prior criminal record.
No Comments yet!