Paul Menchaca of Gilbert, AZ, placed advertisements on CareLinx.com. He posed as a woman named Amy who supposedly was the mother of a man with Down Syndrome. The caregivers were to provide care services for Menchaca outside of the home. She only communicated with the women by text. "Amy" told the caregivers that his genitals were not cleaned enough and required special attention during his sessions. He was also supposed to be punished by the caregivers if he ended up soiling his diapers. Menchaca then paid the women with $160 per visit in cash.
Menchaca frequently became erect during his diaper changes and bathing sessions. According to news reports, they attributed his behavior to his disability. They continued working with him for once he stopped paying them.
One of the women followed him from the location where she dropped him off following their session to his home and then confronted him in front of his parents along with the other caregivers:
"He couldn't even look at us," said Allen. "He was just sitting down, with his head between his legs. Basically, like, talking and mumbling, and his dad kept asking, like, 'answer them. They want to know. These girls, you messed with their lives. They want to know', and all I kept yelling was, basically, like, asking him why. Why would you do this?"-- why why would you do this,"Menchaca was eventually arrested. He claimed during his initial court appearance that he is "special needs" and has a "low IQ level." He claims that his parents have documents of this. I have no idea if he actually has a low IQ, but it's pretty clear that he doesn't need providers to assist him with bathing or toileting. Additionally, he was an employee with his local school district up until this all went down.
There were plenty of red flags for Menchaca's caregivers. I point this out, not to shame or to blame them, but to hopefully assist others to avoid similar mistakes. Basically, the caregivers should have insisted on actual face-to-face contacts with "Amy" to discuss Menchaca's services, behaviors, and activities. It's puzzling to me that he was supposed mentally and behaviorally disabled enough to require toileting and bathing assistance, but not disabled enough to require his "Amy" to be with him before and after his appointments with his caregivers.
Also, look that picture of Paul Menchaca at the top of the blog article. That is not the face of a man with Down Syndrome. I understand that not everybody is the same. But people with Down Syndrome share certain facial characteristics to some degree or another, and Menchaca doesn't have those facial characteristics.