Thursday, December 16, 2021

Nurse, Valencia teacher in Central Florida accused of neglecting elderly mother

Rebecca Lassiter, 70, is facing a felony charge for mistreatment of her mother, who is in her 90s.

Lassiter was formally charged by the state attorney after her arrest in November. Records show that she was previously the "court appointed guardian" for her mother.

When she was arrested a few weeks ago, Lassiter was a nursing school teacher at Valencia College.

According to licensing records with the Florida Department of Health, Lassiter is a registered nurse with an active license.

She's charged with felony neglect of an elderly or disabled adult as recently as September 2018, according to court records obtained by WESH 2 Investigates.

She allegedly wasn't providing her medications and an officer described the victim as "weak and feeble."

Those records also show St. Cloud Police previously recommended charges in 2019 of theft from a victim 65 and older, and exploitation of the elderly.

Police found withdrawals by Lassiter from her mother's bank account totaling more than $24,000, but Lassiter was not charged until now.

According to a Valencia spokeswoman, Lassiter was a part-time teacher in the nursing school. She resigned Dec. 3 but mentioned nothing of her arrest.

In an email to a supervisor, she wrote: "I am resigning from Valencia immediately due to personal and health reasons."

The fact that she never mentioned the arrest is a violation of campus policy.

Lassiter is set to be tried next month and referred all questions to her attorney.

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