News Release - Caregiver Arrested for Abusing Group Home Resident

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Attorney General Bill McCollum News Release

December 21, 2007

en Español

Print Version

Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Caregiver Arrested for Abusing Group Home Resident

~ Caregiver allegedly struck woman in a public parking lot ~

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Pensacola caregiver was arrested and charged with abusing a disabled woman while taking the woman on an errand. Kimberly Pleasant was taken into custody today by authorities with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with assistance from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The arrest warrant cited observations from an eyewitness which was corroborated by physical evidence.

An eyewitness informed investigators with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit that the incident took place in a bank parking lot in Pensacola. The witness confirmed that she saw Pleasant strike the victim, who suffers from cerebral palsy. The incident occurred while Pleasant was attempting to remove the victim from a van. Pleasant became irritated when the victim started moving and when the victim did not heed the instructions to stop, Pleasant slapped the woman and pushed her with enough power to rock the entire van backward. The eyewitness reported the incident to the authorities.

Pleasant was booked into the Escambia County Jail under one count of abuse of the disabled. If convicted, she could receive up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit.