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Police: More seniors ripped off by their own caregivers

By Greg Suskin, wsoctv.com
By Greg Suskin, wsoctv.com

ROCK HILL, S.C. — It was only days after Tara Stieffenhofer moved her 78-year-old father from Pennsylvania into a home in Rock Hill, when someone she trusted to care for him began stealing from him instead.

"I hate that they do this to people, that they prey on seniors," Stieffenhofer said.

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Rock Hill police said Maria Cherry, a caregiver, was using his credit card numbers.

"She literally had to go into his nightstand to get the numbers out of his wallet," Stieffenhofer said.

When the bank red flagged purchases and shut down one card, the crime didn't stop.

"Every time one card got cut off, or the bank would stop it, or the store would stop it, she would go on to the next card."

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Police are seeing more and more cases where caregivers and even family members are stealing from the elderly.

Rock Hill police said Cherry used all three of Stieffenhofer's father's credit cards and began exploiting another senior in the same way before she was caught.

Wendy Duda heads York County's Council on Aging, which offers programs for seniors.

"It's probably about as low as you can go," Duda said about people who take advantage of the elderly.

"That caregiver is often the only person they may see all day long. They think of that person as their best friend," she said.

In just the last two months in Rock Hill, Kylie Davis was accused of stealing money from four special needs adults, using their debit cards more than 40 times to buy clothes, food and pay her bills.

Another caregiver, Nerissa Foster, was charged with stealing checks from her elderly clients’ checkbook and using his credit cards. These cases happened just this year and just in Rock Hill.

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In 2017, South Carolina state officials investigated 8,275 complaints from senior living at facilities; 1,163 involved alleged abuse and 145 were for financial exploitation.

In North Carolina, there were 3,769 complaints taken at nursing homes and senior facilities; 125 involved abuse or neglect, 321 were for alleged financial exploitation

Experts believe these numbers are low, because many issues go unreported.

Far more often, it's family members stealing from their own parents or grandparents, and Duda said that's even less likely to ever reach police.

"Who's going to turn in their child or grandchild, or even a neighbor that they know well?" she said.

Keith Dugan has worked these kinds of cases for years as a Rock Hill police officer.

"It's greed. Just pure greed," Dugan said.

Seniors are often very willing to help others financially, and they choose to see the good in people.  Sadly, those values can make them targets.

"These people come from the 40s, 50s and 60s when we kept doors unlocked. Yes, so they're extremely trusting," he said.

Police are now getting many more calls that end up being civil offenses, cases where one child will claim power of attorney over a relative's estate and then take their money.  It ends up throwing entire families into turmoil.

"It's heart-wrenching. It's absolutely terrible," Dugan said.

Police records don't show any one senior facility or company with a bigger problem than any other.  Most hire the best people they can, and it often comes down to the individual.

Stieffenhofer said she thought everything was fine with her father's caregiver, until she started seeing his credit card bills.

"I even saw her after I knew who it was, and she acted like nothing was wrong," she said. "This shouldn't happen again to anyone else."

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