Attorney General Bill McCollum News Release
April 30, 2008
Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Former Panhandle Caregiver Arrested, Charged with Abusing Disabled Victim
~ State’s charges allege caregiver stripped disabled resident down and hosed him off outdoors ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that an Okaloosa caregiver formerly employed by the Fort Walton Beach Developmental Center was arrested and charged with abusing a disabled adult who was once under his care. Carl Maycock allegedly stripped a resident of the facility of his clothes outside and sprayed him with a garden hose to clean him off. Maycock was arrested by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Fort Walton Police Department.
Witnesses told investigators with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit that Maycock, 52, took the victim outdoors after staff with the facility told Maycock the victim had soiled himself. Maycock then stripped the victim of his clothes, pulled him out of his wheelchair, and sprayed him down with a garden hose. The incident also took place in less than 50 feet away from and in full view of children who were playing at a recreational area. The incident was reported to Adult Protective Services with the Department of Children and Families, which referred the case to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Maycock’s employment has since been terminated by the facility.
Maycock was booked into the Okaloosa County Jail and was charged with one count of abusing a disabled person. If convicted, he 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. The case was investigated as part of the Patient Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (PANE) initiative with the Attorney General’s Office.