MIAMI — A pastor of a Miami-Dade church is behind bars after police say she cheated on an elderly couple with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
The accused woman was the couple’s pastor and they had known each other for about 10 years before he stole nearly $20,000 from them, the police report said.
This is Yvonne Hampton Barley, 63, who now faces charges including grand larceny, organized fraud and exploitation of the elderly.
Police say they abused an elderly man and his wife, both in their 80s, who had dementia and Alzheimer’s.
According to police, the woman allegedly added her name to the victim’s bank account and attempted to withdraw the cash value of her life insurance.
She even pretended to be his daughter and withdrew at least $18,000 from their accounts.
Police say the victims’ family suspected something was wrong after realizing the woman had obtained power of attorney over the victims and made changes to their home ownership documents.
“It’s a morbid crime. This is a crime that unfortunately affects us all as a community. We have a duty to care for our elderly people (…) this person has had this relationship, this longstanding trust with the victims and is a pastor of a church,” said Ángel Rodríguez, spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department.
He asked the community if there is another person, perhaps another member of the community or someone else in the community, who has been deceived by that person, to inform the police.
Anyone with information regarding this case or reports of fraud committed by this person please call the Miami-Dade Crime Hotline at (305) 471-8477.