CROWN POINT | Prosecutors have charged a TradeWinds employee with exploiting a dependent who's a client of the agency that supports the disabled and developmentally delayed children and their families.
Sharla C. Williams, 44, of Merrillville, was charged Tuesday with two counts of exploiting a dependent and a single count of theft.
Court documents show a manager at Gary's TradeWinds Rehabilitation Center noted dubious expenses on the account of a TradeWinds client dependent on Williams. An audit revealed checks totaling $10,396 over a four-year period to Williams, a ministry, a timeshare, plane tickets to Las Vegas, a driving school and Williams' boyfriend for the purchase of a laptop computer.
Williams' dependent is a 63-year-old woman with the mental capacity of a second-grader and who cannot read or write, according to court records.
TradeWinds policy forbids employees to write checks on clients' accounts, the court record states. When questioned about the expenditures, Williams is alleged to have claimed illness and taken a leave of absence before resigning without answering any questions.
When Williams' dependent was questioned, the woman said she didn't know she had a part ownership in a timeshare, the court record states. She further said she didn't know about the ministry, had never received a computer and didn't remember signing any checks.
