Ex-South Florida pastor accused of thieving about $18K from aged church couple

MIAMI — A former South Florida pastor has been arrested and is facing costs that she stole 1000’s of dollars from an aged married couple she understood from church and who have been both struggling from dementia, police explained Thursday.

Yvonne Hampton-Barley, 63, of Miami Gardens, was booked into the Miami-Dade Correctional Centre after she was billed with four felony legal counts, like exploitation of the aged, 1st- and third-diploma grand theft and arranged scheme to defraud, according to the arrest affidavit.

It was not quickly obvious if bond has been set for Hampton Barley or if she was however in custody as of Thursday night time.

In accordance to investigators, the woman was a pastor at a church attended by the 81-calendar year-outdated man and his 89-year-old spouse, each of whom are suffering from some variety of dementia. 

The suspect realized the pair for at least 10 decades, and befriended them during that time, law enforcement mentioned in a created statement. Investigators did not quickly recognize the church attended by the three.

Investigators explained the woman took benefit of the few in May 2018 when she additional her identify to the home deed for the residence in the 500 block of Ives Dairy Road that they had owned for 21 decades. 

Police claimed the woman also attained a energy of attorney above the couple 4 years back, supplying her entry to their pension account, lifestyle insurance policy plan and credit score union account.

Law enforcement stated the woman pretended to be a daughter of the pair in advance of cashing out the existence insurance coverage for the elderly person.

According to investigators, Hampton-Barley was capable to withdraw nearly $18,500 from their fiscal accounts.

Police reported the plan started to unravel when their niece learned that the suspect experienced additional her title to the house deed.

Hampton-Barley was arrested Dec. 14, according to the law enforcement report.