Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Forrest Wegge is not seeking charges against former Fox C-6 Superintendent Dianne Critchlow or any other district administrators following a state audit of the district that uncovered misuse of taxpayer dollars.
Instead, the case has been referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for possible federal charges, authorities said.
“Upon review of the criminal investigation into the issues presented by the recent Fox C-6 audit conducted over the past six weeks by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it has become clear that Missouri criminal statutes are insufficient to accomplish the level of accountability the taxpayers of Fox C-6 deserve,” Wegge
said in a July 14 written statement. “Therefore, after discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, this matter is being referred to their office for potential federal prosecution.”
Wegge would not say what offenses might merit federal charges.
“Due to the ongoing investigation, we are unable to comment further on this matter,” he said.
U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Terri Dougherty confirmed Monday that the case had been referred there.
“We are assisting the FBI in the investigation of the case,” she said.
Dougherty wouldn’t say what specifically was being investigated, though.
Wegge said his office would assist with the investigation as needed.
“This office will also continue to work closely with law enforcement and stay in communication with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure that any individuals better suited for state prosecution are brought to justice in Jefferson County.”
Wegge’s announcement came six days after Jefferson County Council chair Renee Reuter and vice chair Bob Boyer called for Wegge “to either release the results of his office’s review of the state audit” or to at least “tell the taxpayers when he expects the report to be final and publicly available.”
Wegge said Monday he had not heard about their request.
“We started investigating the minute we got the audit report,” he said. “There has to be a criminal investigation (before charges can be filed), and we started working on it immediately, and this (referral) is the result of that. We came to the result to send it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
According to the Missouri Auditor’s Office report, which was released to the public on May 25, Critchlow inappropriately spent taxpayer money or misused district resources in an amount ranging from $470,941 to $1,100,116, going back to 2010.
The misappropriated funds include $214,000 that auditors allege directly benefited Critchlow or her husband, Jamie Critchlow, another former Fox administrator, the report said.
When State Auditor Nicole Galloway released the report, she said her office does not pursue criminal charges but that it would work with the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and any other government body seeking charges against Critchlow or her husband.
At that time, Wegge issued a press release saying his office would review the report to consider possible criminal charges and that the review could take several weeks.
Dianne Critchlow’s attorney, Brandy D. Barth with the firm of Newton, Wright and Barth, called the audit report a “biased and one-sided account filled with inaccuracies, half information and misleading statements.”
She said Critchlow was “born and raised in Arnold and devoted her entire career to the students, staff and community of the Fox C-6 School District,” and noted that Critchlow and the district received “accolades and awards” under her leadership.
Dianne Critchlow, 50, retired early from the district and Jamie Critchlow, 42, was fired, both in 2014.