An Idaho educator has agreed to surrender her teaching certificate and pay restitution to the Caldwell School District after pleading guilty to charges of petit theft.
Elysa G. Skousen was booked Jan. 6, originally on felony charges of receiving, possessing or disposing of stolen property. Caldwell police, Caldwell School District administrators and Canyon County prosecutors say Skousen purchased technology equipment with district money, left her job with the district and never returned the items, according to an affidavit of probable cause and Canyon County court records.
The technology devices at issue included two iPod Touches, three iPad 2s, an iMac 27 and three iPad Minis valued at $4,747.96, according to an affidavit of probable cause signed by Caldwell Police detective Michelle Emmons.
As part of a plea agreement, Skousen agreed to plead guilty to the lesser, misdemeanor charge of petit theft in exchange for prosecutors dropping the felony charge. Terms of the plea agreement call for Skousen to serve two years unsupervised probation, pay $6,880.64 in restitution to the Caldwell district and surrender her Idaho teaching certificate for two years, effective May 29, according to court records.
Skousen was also given a one-year suspended jail sentence, ordered to serve five days on the Canyon County sheriff’s work detail and perform 200 hours of community service.
Skousen has not taught in the Caldwell district for more than two years, but formerly worked as a teacher at Canyon Springs High School. The criminal complaint dates to August 2013, when Caldwell Superintendent Tim Rosandick filed a report with Caldwell police.
Skousen was working at Vallivue School District’s Vallivue Academy when she was charged in January.
In a separate case, Skousen was also charged in 2002 with felony theft in Canyon County. That charge was also later reduced to petit theft once Skousen pleaded guilty in that case, court records show. In connection with the 2002 charges, Skousen was ordered to serve 90 days in jail, with 80 days of that term suspended, Canyon County court records indicate.
As part of the most recent case, Caldwell police were also ordered to return to Skousen two Nikon cameras, two Apple computers and a large plastic bag filled with SD cards and thumb drives that were seized for evidence from her home on Feb. 21, 2014.