'A complete lossof trust': Seniors robbed by staffer at Winnipeg care home, police say

Eight people, age78 to 100, were robbed by a woman who worked at the care home where they lived, Winnipeg police say.

A 37-year-old womanwas arrested and charged on Tuesday, following a month-long investigation at the facility on Henderson Highway.

Police were first alerted inMarch when a woman said her93-year-old motherwas missing a wedding ring and an engagement ring. Both were taken right off of her fingers sometime in February, police said.

The woman said hermother was incapable of removing the rings by herself.

The lack of respect of somebody who works in that environment and is charged with taking care of that person is what's most disturbing.- Const. Tammy Skrabek

The investigation identified a total of eight victims, all of whom were missing jewelry. Much of it had been forcibly removed from them, police said.

"The victims are living with dementia and are considered vulnerable persons," said police spokeswomanConst. Tammy Skrabek.

"Not only are they vulnerable and they have memory issues they're also not able to defend themselves and a lot of them are not able to speak.

"The lack of respect of somebody who works in that environment and is charged with taking care of that person is what's most disturbing."

Family member disgusted

Police confirmed the home involved is the Kildonan Long Term Care Homeat 1970 Henderson Highway.

The centre's owner, Revera,confirmed in an email to CBC News that an employee was charged with theft on April 2.

"The safety and security of our residents and staff is our top priority and we are grateful to the police for resolving the situation so quickly," a spokesperson said via email.

"It would not be appropriate to comment further on a matter that is under investigation by the police."

It just breaks my heart. You are dealing with the death of a loved one and this should not have been part of it.- Leslie Ross

Leslie Ross'84-year-old mother was living at the facility. She said shenoticed her mother's hand was swollen and black and blue, and that her wedding and engagement rings were missing after she was hospitalized in February.

Ross said she thought at first that theparamedics had cut them off or that they were left behind at the facility.

She was later contacted by police.

"It just turned my stomach," said Ross. "I was her voice for all the years she got sick. I am just disgusted ... just disgusted with this one person, not with Kildonan."

Ross saidher mother was taken back to Kildonan where she passed away.

"It just breaks my heart," she added. "You are dealing with the death of a loved one and this should not have been part of it.

"It is just the lowest of the low," said Ross.

She said while police have shown her pictures of some of the stolen jewellery that has been recovered, she doesn't have her mother's rings back yet.

'Complete loss of trust'

Tom Farrell, president of the Manitoba Association ofSeniorCentres, called the situation heartbreaking.

Families have to listen to their family members who are in assisted living facilities.- Tom Farrell, president of the Manitoba Association ofSeniorCentres

"There is no question, it's a complete lossof trust," he said Friday.

"One of the things that all of us do is we ... trust those people who are caring for our loved ones."

He said crimes of this nature aren't common and said the majority of people working in long-term care facilities are good people.

He applauded Winnipeg police for acting quickly once a report was made.

"One of the things that Ithink has to happen is families have to listen to their family members who are in assisted living facilities or in senior residences," he added.

Farrell said family members should keep in contact with managers of facilitieswhere loved ones are staying and report any suspicious activity to both management and police.

Some property recovered

Police said many of the people stolen fromdidn't have a lot of family,which could explain why there was only one report before the investigation was launched.

"Some of the people there had children who've already passed, so there wasn't a lot of people taking care of them," she said.

In other cases, family members might initially think the items were just misplaced, Skrabek said.

Police don't often encounter thefts like this, she said.

"But from time to time, you do get somebody who sees this as a crime of opportunity and does prey on somebody vulnerable," she said.

Some, but not all,of the stolen jewelry has been recovered.It had been sold to local pawn shops and gold buyers, police said.