LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Investigators say she had a trusting face and was always helping her co-workers, and that's how Denise Lamont was able to take $31,000 from Lincoln Elementary School over a five-year period without anyone suspecting a thing.

“This money she took was children’s money,” says Jefferson County Public Schools investigator Stephen Cheatham.

After getting word that she'd been indicted on 107 counts of theft, Denise Lamont showed up in court Wednesday morning and turned herself in.

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Lamont was a bookkeeper at Lincoln from 2001 to 2006. She quit in September, just before investigators were going to question her about the missing money.

We didn't get to ask Denise Lamont any questions in court this morning but we were able to talk to her mother and her attorney.

“We entered a plea of not guilty she'll be out later on and she'll continue with her life and we'll take care of her,” said attorney Brendan McLeod.

Cheatham says the principal from Lincoln first noticed what was going on, and an auditor’s report showed further discrepancies. He says Lamont bought duplicate checks, made them out to herself and forged the principal’s signature.

“Many of the thefts were less than $100,” he says. “That makes them a misdemeanor but most of the thefts were over a few hundred at a time.”

Lamont is a single mother of two teenagers -- one has special needs. Authorities say they don't know if that was a motive, but they say nothing justifies stealing from kids.

Lamont is out of jail on $1,500 bond. She’ll be on home incarceration, but will have work release to go to her new job at University of Louisville.

Her next court appearance is next month.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.