Fall River caregiver sentenced for stealing from 97 year old woman

A 61-year-old Fall River woman who stole more than $100,000 from a 97-year-old Spindle City woman she was hired to care for was convicted last week of larceny and sentenced to house arrest, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

 

Kathleen King pleaded guilty last week in Fall River Superior Court to a single-count indictment, charging her with larceny over $250 on a person more than 60 years old.

 

The defendant was a companion and part-time caregiver for the elderly victim.  The victim lived fairly independently, but needed some assistance around the home with cooking, cleaning, shopping, and other chores.  In 2013, after gaining the victim’s trust, the defendant withdrew more than $100,000.00 from the victim’s savings account without the victim’s knowledge. 

 

The victim, now 97 years old, is blind, deaf, and largely mute.  Due to her age and disabilities, the victim was unavailable to the Commonwealth at any potential trial. 

 

After the defendant pleaded  guilty to the charge, Superior Court Judge Renee Dupuis sentenced her to one year house arrest with GPS monitoring and three years of supervised probation.

 

Since the defendant has no current income aside from a small monthly federal welfare check, she was only ordered to pay $1,800 in restitution.

 

The case was investigated and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Scott, the Chief of DA Quinn’s Financial Crimes/Elder Protection Unit.

 

“I am pleased the defendant was held accountable for breaching the trust of a 92-year-old victim who relied on her to handle her finances honestly. She is a vulnerable victim and the defendant took advantage of her situation. Unfortunately the defendant doesn’t have the financial means to pay most of the restitution in this case,” District Attorney Quinn said.  “We will continue to investigate and prosecute cases in which our elders are criminally exploited by caregivers and others.”