RI State Police Arrest Deputy Civil Clerk at Providence Superior Court
Tuesday, December 03, 2019
The Rhode Island State Police announced on Tuesday that members of the Computer Crimes Unit have arrested a former deputy civil court clerk at the Providence Superior Court.
The arrest was made Monday of Lynn Gaulin, age 51, of 41 Roger Williams Drive, Smithfield for three counts of Access to a Computer for Fraudulent Purposes.
The arrest was the result of an investigation into allegations that Gaulin, while employed as a deputy civil court clerk at the Providence Superior Court, allegedly accessed nine (9) civil court cases where she was either named as a party or one of her family members were named as a party in the litigation.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to RI State Police, Gaulin sealed the cases without a judge's authority, which is in violation of Rhode Island Supreme Court Rules, Article X, Rule 8. Once a court case is marked sealed, the case is only visible to those with login permissions to view and for those without that permission, no portion of the case is viewable, including the involved parties’ names. Members of the Computer Crimes Unit worked closely with members of the Providence Superior Court during the course of the investigation.
After the initial complaint was filed with the State Police, an audit was conducted by members of the Providence Superior Court of all files that Gaulin had accessed in order to ascertain if any other files were compromised. They found no other files had been altered by Gaulin without proper authority.
"The court discovered a breach in protocol in the normal course of business, involving select case files. Based upon the court’s initial findings, the matter was referred to the State Police for further investigation. The employee was terminated in August 2019," said Craig Berke, spokesman for the Rhode Island Courts.
Gaulin was initially arraigned at the Scituate Barracks by a Justice of the Peace and released pending her next court date on March 9, 2020, at 6th District Court.
Any person found guilty of Access to a Computer for Fraudulent Purposes, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned for not more than five (5) years, or both.
