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A home health aide was arrested for allegedly stealing belongings from an elderly woman with dementia whom she was caring for in Miami Lakes, Florida, after the victim's son recorded her on video and reported the case to the authorities.
Janet Hernández, 44 years old, is facing charges of grand theft and theft from an elderly person according to the arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, which launched the investigation last month following a report from the victim's son.
The son, who resides in Tallahassee and visits his mother every two or three months, began to notice the disappearance of clothing, jewelry, furniture, and home decor.
At first, he suspected his sister or his own mother, but his sister denied having moved or taken anything.
In January, the son installed a Ring camera above the garage door, and what it recorded was crucial: Hernández taking out several garbage bags full of belongings and loading them into his vehicle.
The videos also show her taking away a new generator, ceramics, plates, and cleaning supplies for the home.
Furthermore, the son found a video on Facebook showing Hernández wearing what appeared to be a pendant with a golden cross that had been taken from his mother.
When confronted by the detectives, Hernández spontaneously admitted that "he took all the items from the property because he needed them for personal use."
The victim is in the early stages of dementia, which makes her especially vulnerable to those who have direct access to her home.
The case is reminiscent of another that occurred in March 2025, when a home caregiver was arrested in Sunrise accused of sexually assaulting an 86-year-old woman with dementia, highlighting a troubling pattern of abuse against vulnerable elderly individuals in Florida by those hired to take care of them.
Florida is one of the states with the highest proportion of elderly population in the country and recorded more than 99,661 investigations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults in the fiscal year 2023-2024, according to the state's Department of Children and Families.
Nationwide, the financial exploitation of older adults has grown alarmingly: reported losses by elderly victims of fraud increased from 600 million dollars in 2020 to 2.4 billion in 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Hernández was taken into custody and was expected to appear before the bail court this Friday.
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