Botland caregiver indicted for allegedly stealing from elderly woman

NELSON COUNTY GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Thursday, March 19, 2015, 10 p.m. — The Botland woman arrested Feb. 6 and charged with forging stolen checks on the account of the elderly woman she cared for was indicted Wednesday by a Nelson County grand jury.

LESLIE ANN JOHNSON

Leslie Ann Johnson, 47, was indicted on charges that between Oct. 1, 2014 and Feb. 2, 2015, she knowingly exploited another person by taking an individual’s bank checks and used them to purchase gift cards in the woman’s name. Johnson was also indicted on charges that she attempted to hide the checks after she realized an investigation was under way, and that she stole another person’s identity by having in her possession a driver’s license belonging to another person.

The investigation began Feb. 2 when the elderly woman’s son reported to police that someone had written checks on his mother’s account totaling nearly $2,000. Using surveillance video, police determined the suspect forged the checks to buy gift cards at an Elizabethtown Wal-Mart. Police then determined that Johnson used the gift cards to make purchases at the Bardstown Wal-Mart. Johnson was identified as an independent contractor who had been serving as a sitter in the home of the victim. A search of her home turned up evidence that she allegedly stole another person’s identity.

Bail was set at $25,000 cash only, plus conditions. Johnson is set for arraignment in Nelson Circuit Court on Thursday, April 2.

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