A former Rushville police officer who later worked as a child welfare caseworker has pleaded guilty to forgery after investigators found he falsified home-visit records and forged signatures on documents meant to protect at-risk children in Ripley County. Todd Click, who spent years with the Rushville Police Department before joining the Indiana Department of Child Services, admitted to entering false reports of family contacts and forging parents' and caregivers' signatures on required DCS forms.
The plea agreement, reached with the Ripley County Prosecutor's Office, resolves felony charges of official misconduct and forgery along with allegations that Click falsified records of child abuse or neglect in 2024, according to the Greensburg Daily News. Click worked as a family case manager in the DCS Ripley County office, and investigators say he falsified at least 10 case entries and forged signatures on at least seven forms, putting at least five Ripley County families and 11 children at risk.
A Pattern Uncovered After DCS Flagged Concerns
The Indiana Office of Inspector General opened its investigation after the Indiana Department of Child Services identified concerns with Click's case records and referred the matter for review. The falsifications reportedly occurred between December 21, 2023, and February 15, 2024, according to a timeline reported by WRBI Radio, with DCS referring the case to the Inspector General in spring 2024, per the Indiana Inspector General's Office. Click had resigned from DCS approximately one month before that referral, and other accounts place his resignation date as March 2, 2024, after joining the Ripley County office in July 2023.
Court documents reviewed by the station show the allegations were severe: several of the cases Click falsified involved allegations of child physical or sexual abuse, and the forged paperwork included safety plans that determine whether children remain in a home, according to reporting on the case compiled by the Hoosier Enquirer. Falsified logs created the false impression that children already flagged for possible abuse were receiving ongoing state oversight when they were not.
From Felony Charges to a Negotiated Sentence
When charges were initially filed in October 2024, Click faced Level 6 felony counts of official misconduct and forgery along with a Class A misdemeanor charge of obstructing a child abuse assessment, WRBI Radio reported at the time. Following his October 2024 arrest, Click was released on his own recognizance without monetary bond by Ripley Superior Court while the case proceeded, 95.3 MNC reported.
Under the plea deal, Click pleaded guilty to forgery and was sentenced to 910 days in jail, with 900 days suspended to probation and credit for time served. He must also complete 100 hours of community service, and the remaining counts were dismissed as part of the agreement. The plea deal also includes probation.
Forgery Allegations in DCS Records
Click's case centers on forged parents' and caregivers' signatures on DCS forms.
A Familiar Name From the Delphi Murder Trial
Click's name carries weight beyond Ripley County. He was a former assistant police chief with the Rushville Police Department before entering DCS work. That law enforcement career put him at the center of one of Indiana's most closely watched murder cases: Click gained national attention as a key defense witness in the 2017 Delphi double-murder trial after co-authoring an 85-page investigative report in 2023 alleging the killings were connected to Odinism practices in Rushville, according to the Carroll County Comet.
That prominence drew scrutiny from Delphi prosecutors well before his DCS arrest. In April 2024, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland filed a court motion subpoenaing Click's Rushville employment records, WIBC reported. The motion concerned Click's anticipated testimony for the defense in the trial of Richard Allen, the man convicted in the Delphi killings — a case Hoodline has covered extensively, including in its report on the verdict.
