Hutch couple charged in mistreatment of dependent adult
By Darcy Gray - The Hutchinson News -
5/6/2009
A Hutchinson woman already headed for trial on charges of mistreating a dependent adult has been arrested on similar charges involving another elderly woman who had been in her care.
Melody A. Roberts and her husband, Thomas G. Roberts, were arrested Tuesday on charges of mistreatment of a dependent adult and criminal use of a financial card. Melody Roberts has also been charged with 24 counts of forgery and one count of theft by deception.
Melody Roberts was providing in-home care for 81-year-old Hutchinson resident Barbara Piper when the allegations arose. She reportedly charged about $7,500 on Piper’s credit card in January and February at various businesses across town, said detective Paul Sack with the Hutchinson Police Department’s financial crimes division.
According to court documents, most of the charges to Piper's credit card occurred within one week's time.
Roberts has a case pending against her in which she allegedly mistreated another elderly Hutchinson woman, Eva Jane Williams. In that case, Roberts is accused of taking “over $100,000 in a nine-day period” from Williams’ bank account, said Stephen Maxwell, Reno County senior assistant district attorney who is prosecuting the case.
Roberts pleaded innocent last August to mistreatment of a dependent adult, a charge dating back to 2004; making a false writing and operating a home health agency without a license, both charges that date back to January 2008. She’s scheduled to stand trial in that case July 14.
She remains in the Reno County Jail on $100,000 bond, while her husband posted a $30,000 bond and was released from jail Tuesday.
Melody Roberts made her first appearance Wednesday in Reno County District Court before Judge Joe McCarville, who ordered her not to have contact with anyone over the age of 65 except family members if she bonds out of jail.
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources
No comments:
Post a Comment