TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office arrested an employee of a Tallahassee developmental center for abusing a disabled adult. Latessa C. Smith, 25, served as a direct support professional at the center. According to the investigation, Smith retrieved a belt from a closet and struck a disabled adult victim. The victim allegedly received welts on the face and abdomen.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “It is absolutely unconscionable that someone would use their position of trust to victimize and abuse those disabled individuals in their care. I am proud of my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigators and law enforcement who made sure this person was put behind bars.”
The redacted PCA loads below:
2019-08-30SmithWarrantAffidavit_RedactedSmith is charged with one count of abuse of a disabled adult, a third-degree felony. The Attorney General’s Office, through an agreement with the State Attorney’s Office in the Second Judicial Circuit, will prosecute the case
