2nd Johnston County teacher accused of having fake credentials

JOHNSTON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A second Johnston County Public Schools teacher has reportedly been caught with falsified credentials.

The Johnston County Sheriff's Office opened a criminal investigation into the teacher, Ivette Serrano Hughes, the JoCo Report confirmed.

In a statement from Johnston County Public Schools, "JCPS notified the Johnston County Sheriff's Office Department last week of concerns about credentials submitted by the employee, Ivette Serrano Hughes. JCPS also notified the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction of these concerns. Johnston County Public Schools appreciates the prompt action of the Johnston County Sheriff's Department in these cases. Prior to being employed with JCPS, Ms. Hughes was employed with another school district in another state. Our Human Resources department has notified her previous employer of its concerns."

Hughes is the wife of Torians Hughes, who authorities said used phony credentials to get a teaching job at Cleveland High School. Ivette Hughes has been charged with obtaining her job under false pretenses.

In June, Torians Hughes, of Wake County, was arrested and accused of using a doctored resume to get hired as a teacher at Cleveland High School in Johnston County.

Ivette Hughes was allegedly exposed June 27 as having a fraudulent resume and diploma. She was hired in 2018 and resigned last week.

"Johnston County Public Schools has investigated an employee's credentials based on a close connection with a previous case of falsified employment credentials," Schools Chief of Staff Dolores Gill said in an email to the JoCo Report. "Our investigation discovered credible evidence that the second employee's credentials were not valid. We immediately began the process of instituting dismissal proceedings, at which point the employee resigned. We have reported our findings to law enforcement and to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction."

Sheriff's Lt. Don Pate said Monday that the investigation was just beginning and could not speculate on when it would be completed.