Former Baltimore County Child Support Enforcement Administration Employee Convicted of Theft

BALTIMORE, MD (April 9, 2009) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Keith L. Hibbs, 44, of Finksburg, has been convicted of felony theft in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. Hibbs pled guilty before Judge Robert Cahill and was sentenced to 15 years incarceration with all but 10 years suspended. Judge Cahill also ordered Hibbs to serve five years of supervised probation upon release and to pay restitution in the amount of $49,874.

The investigation revealed that from 1996 to 2005, Hibbs was employed as a child support specialist with the Baltimore County Child Support Enforcement Administration (“CSEA”). He was responsible for monitoring and enforcing court orders of child support against non-custodial parents. From October 1998 through February 2005, Hibbs accessed CSEA computers and changed the name of the payee on 112 child support checks so that the checks were made payable in his wife’s name. These checks were then either deposited directly into a bank account controlled by Hibbs, or were mailed to his home address. Hibbs signed his wife’s name on the mailed checks before depositing them.

This case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Criminal Division with assistance from the Maryland Department of Human Resources.