N.J. child protection caseworker charged with sharing confidential info, AG says – NJ.com

A state child protective employee illegally accessed a work database and disclosed confidential information about a person’s family to a third party, the state Attorney General Office’s alleges.

Kristan T. Bell, 41, of Union Township, is charged with computer theft and unlawful access and disclosure, both third-degree felonies, the office said.

Bell is a family service specialist, or caseworker, with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

In June of 2020, Bell allegedly used her work logon and password to access a DCF database that logs records from the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit relating to a person, who became the victim in this case, the office says. (The unit investigates allegations of child abuse or neglect in out-of-home settings, like foster homes, schools and detention centers.)

Bell then allegedly disclosed the information about the victim’s family to another person who previously had a relationship with the victim and is the biological father of the victim’s son, authorities said. The records are confidential and Bell had no legitimate work-related reason or justification to access them, the AG’s office alleges.

Bell was charged Tuesday via complaint summons. No lawyer is listed for her in court records.

“By aggressively investigating and prosecuting those who abuse their official positions, we’re working to enforce a culture of integrity in government and build public trust,” Thomas Eicher, executive director of the AG’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, said in a statement. “We will not tolerate this type of misuse of confidential records.”

“DCF has clear protocols in place to monitor the use, and to detect the mis-use, of clients’ confidential information,” DCF Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer said in the AG’s statement. “The Department does not tolerate violations of privacy standards.”

State records show Bell worked at a child protective office in Cranford at the time of the alleged crime, and made an annual salary of $82,298.

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Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com.