Court clerk arrested in Fairfax

By Gene Fynes | February 24, 2010; 5:53 PM ET, Washington Post


A Fairfax County Circuit Court clerk was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing money from the clerk’s office, Fairfax police said.

Deborah Sterling, 58, of Clifton had worked as a cashier in the civil intake division, police said, where lawsuits and motions are filed, often with accompanying fees. She worked in the clerk’s office for nine years.

Last week, Fairfax Circuit Clerk John Frey contacted police to say his staff had detected irregularities in the office’s fee tracking system, Frey said Wednesday. He said he did not know how long the alleged thefts had been occurring or how much money might have been taken.

“At this point it doesn’t appear it’s a huge amount of money,” Frey said. He added that he had fired Sterling.

The Fairfax clerk’s office handled about $200 million in revenue and trust funds last year, the police said, and is the largest clerk’s office in Virginia.

Sterling was charged with four counts of embezzlement by a public official, one count of computer fraud and one count of forging a public record. Police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said police were continuing to investigate the case.

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