Notary forgery
The business manager of the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center has been arrested on 9 counts of notary forgery. She was charged with making false acknowledgements or oaths as a notary public.
The manager, Lakita Edwards, forged a detention center official’s signature on job application background packets. She also affixed to the packets unauthorized notary seals and sent them to be processed at the department’s central office.
The forgeries were discovered when an employee of the Department of Juvenile Justice noticed the person whose signature appeared to be on the documents happened to be on an extended leave when the documents were submitted.
A more thorough investigation revealed a total of 9 packets with fraudulent signatures and seals. The department determined that applicants were neither positively nor negatively impacted by the forgeries.
The forgeries are believed to be an isolated incident. Edwards is believed to have acted alone, and has been suspended pending further administrative action.