Boise caregiver convicted for elder abuse, neglect and exploitation

Sherri Watring. (Courtesy Ada County Sheriff's Office)

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A jury found a Boise caregiver guilty Wednesday for elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Sherri L. Watring, 53, was arrested in Jan. 2019 and charged with two felony counts of abuse and neglect of a vulnerable adult - under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm. Watring was also convicted of exploitation of a vulnerable adult in excess of $1,000, as well as a misdemeanor petit theft charge.

Watring was working as a caregiver for an elderly couple for a number of years. According to court documents, she had steadily gained trust with the couple and gained power of attorney in 2016.

The male victim died on Feb. 1, 2018 and Watring had him cremated without the family knowing. The family fired her later that month. She then took the man's ashes and spread them somewhere unknown to the family, before turning over the empty urn to authorities.

Watring was also found guilty of neglecting and abusing the female victim by failing to provide adequate nutrition and performing improper medical treatments - which created circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm. The woman later died in hospice care in June of 2018.

Watring committed the crimes over the span of two years from 2016-2018.

Watring was also charged for exploiting the couple by taking more than $1,000 from them. She used online transfers to get money from the victim's bank accounts to her own, and added debt in the victim's names using her position as their power of attorney.

A jury found Watring guilty on all charges following the three-day trial.


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Boise caregiver convicted for elder abuse, neglect and exploitation