Caregiver Charged With Identity Theft

By CHRISTIAN WADE The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 7, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - She got an 83-year-old woman high on crack cocaine, then, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, she stole her identity.

Theresa Stanley-Morgan, 42, a caretaker who was living with Shirley Hathaway in her New Port Richey home, was arrested Friday on charges that she stole Hathaway's personal information and racked up $3,300 in credit card charges.

Hathaway has dementia and suffers from memory loss. Sheriff's investigators said Stanley-Morgan gave Hathaway crack from a lit pipe on several occasions and told her it was "hooty."

Investigators said Stanley-Morgan used Hathaway's information to get a Capitol One credit card and then went on a spending spree.

Stanley-Morgan was being held Sunday at Land O' Lakes jail on $20,000 bail. She is charged with a felony count of criminal use of personal identification, according to the arrest affidavit.

Investigators said she told them about the ID theft and the crack during interrogation. The investigation continues, and additional charges are possible.

The detective who made the arrest added a request to the judge in the affidavit: "Please do not reduce the bond."