Caretaker Imprisoned For $650K Exploitation Of Elderly Bucks Co. Resident: DA

WARRINGTON, PA — A Warrington man will spend several years in prison after being found guilty of exploiting an elderly resident while he was working as a landscaper and caretaker, said the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.

Robert R. Wootters, 56, took more than $650,000 from the Solebury Township man over a period of four years, said District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub. He will spend between three and six years in a state prison and has to pay the victim, who is in his 80s, half a million dollars in restitution.

Wootters pleaded no contest to charges of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, financial exploitation of an older adult, access device fraud and deceptive business practices in common pleas court on Wednesday, the DA's office said.

Wootters will also have a consecutive sentence of nine years of probation, Weintraub's office said.

In a separate case, Wootters also pleaded guilty to filing false records on a Social Security disability claim, said the DA's office. For this crime, he was given six years' probation and ordered to repay $45,759.50 to the Social Security Administration in restitution, said Weintraub's office.

The Bucks County Orphans Court appointed a guardian to the victim, who officials say has a major neurological disorder and lives alone with no relatives to care for him.

The victim told Solebury Township police in March 2021 that he thought Wootters was taking advantage of him. A detective and a representative of the Bucks County Area Agency on Aging met with him, said Weintraub.

The victim paid Wootters by check for the work he performed, or whenever he asked for money, officials say. The man told police he did not keep track of how many checks he had written to Wootters, or how much money he paid.

Wootters far overcharged the victim for basic property maintenance and caretaking, officials said, and the older man told police Wootters was "barely around to assist him."

"During the investigation, the victim said he was surprised by the amount he lost and said he had no idea he paid Wootters that much money," the DA's office said. "The victim said he could not think of any work that Wootters performed to get paid that much money, adding that Wootters never gave him invoices, written statements, or bills for the services he provided."