A Butler woman is accused of falsely claiming her daughter was physically injured in a school bus accident last fall at the Butler Middle School.

Shaquinda M. Kotay, 30, initially sought more than $20,000 in damages, citing such injuries as neck and back stiffness.

But it turned out, according to state investigators, that her 12-year-old daughter was not on the bus at the time of the accident.

Kotay was released on her own recognizance following arraignment Tuesday before District Judge William Fullerton in Butler on felony charges of insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception.

She faces a preliminary hearing Aug. 12.

The charges followed an investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office Insurance Fraud Section that began after Kotay filed a claim with Nationwide Insurance Co. in connection with the Oct. 26 accident.

This is an excerpt from a story that appears in Friday's Butler Eagle.