DeWitt (WSYR-TV) - A woman who was hired to keep elderly people company is instead accused of stealing valuables from at least one of them.
Sherrie Hill was employed by Life's Changing Seasons Eldercare in Fayetteville. DeWitt police say she stole two rings from a woman in her care and sold them at a jewelry store.
Hill is now charged with felony grand larceny, and was sent to the Onondaga County Justice Center on $5,000 cash bail.
Police Investigator Tom Regan says Hill has been selling jewelry for 10 months to a Syracuse jewelry store while she was a companion, so they're trying to determine who it belonged to.
Regan got the case about a week ago, but worked quickly to arrest Hill so that she was out of people's homes.
“It's a violation of trust, which is very unfortunate, especially when it involves the elderly like that,” Regan says.
The initial complaint of missing items came from another of Hill's clients. While looking into it, Regan says he discovered the companion had sold jewelry at Bersani's in Syracuse, and through a database, got a list of what was sold.
Among the items sold was a unique ring. “It was a class ring that had been taken in 1945 with initials of MCM,” says Regan.
He traced it to a woman in her 80s who lives in DeWitt neighborhood. Regan says Hill confessed to taking two rings valued at $1,200.
Regan says Changing Seasons Eldercare did a background check on Hill and she passed it, but NewsChannel 9 found out that she applied to Home Aides of Central New York in March of last year, but was rejected because of her background.
Life's Changing Seasons owner Eileen Duncan tells us that in 2007, Hill was fingerprinted and a background check was done. They came back without any restriction for hiring. If they had known anything, she never would have been working for the agency.
“Going back to the first of the year, she had been at Bersani's selling jewelry, and during that time she was a companion,” says Regan.
Regan is now trying to determine how much of that jewelry was hers, and how much belonged to people in her care.
As for the first complaint that was filed, which triggered the investigation, Regan is still working on that case to determine if Hill stole that person's jewelry and other items.
Hill has not confessed to that theft.
Duncan says she is shocked and disappointed by this, and that they take every measure possible to protect their clients.
Duncan also says that they didn't know of any criminal issues that may have come up since Hill's background check two years ago.
If you are concerned that you or a loved one may be a victim, call DeWitt police at 449-3640.
Many differences between companions, home aides
The whole incident calls into question who you can trust to let in your home.
When someone is caring for the elderly, and is then arrested for betraying that trust, it strikes a chord.
Hill worked as a companion since 2007; companions and home health aides often get lumped together, but are actually very different.
“They're just supposed to offer companionship – they’re not supposed to be offering any hands-on care, such as helping people bathe or dress, they shouldn't be helping with medications,” says Sandra Martin of Home Aides of Central New York.
Life's Changing Seasons says their companions go through training there, but it's significantly less than the training home health aides get, because home health aides are licensed by the State Health Department.
Martin says home health aides get 75 hours of training, with part of it done at an adult home and another part at a patient’s home with the supervision of a nurse.
Home health aides also undergo physical exams and drug and alcohol screening
Only seven percent of the people who apply at Home Aides of Central New York make it through the rigorous screening and training process.
When looking for a home companion or aide, you should ask the agency whether they’re licensed, whether they’re accredited and how they screen their aides.
