Judge orders Millbury caregiver to repay stolen money

A Millbury woman charged with stealing more than $100,000 from a developmentally disabled victim was placed on probation and ordered to pay back the money after pleading guilty yesterday.

Dawn Orcutt, 52, of 3 Lake St., Millbury, was placed on probation for 10 years and ordered to pay $110,000 in restitution, $20,000 of it by today, after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to a charge of larceny of more than $250 by a single scheme from a disabled person. As a condition of probation, Judge James R. Lemire ordered Ms. Orcutt to pay the balance of the restitution at a rate of $750 a month.

Prosecutors said Ms. Orcutt had served as a caretaker for the victim’s mother before her death in 2006 and befriended the victim, a mentally disabled West Boylston woman in her 50s, after her mother died. Assistant District Attorney John A. O’Leary said Ms. Orcutt persuaded the victim, who works at Saint-Gobain Abrasives in Worcester, to withdraw more than $100,000 from her 401(k) retirement account and stole the money over a period of several months, beginning in February 2006.

Mr. O’Leary said Ms. Orcutt told state police investigators she occasionally used the victim’s ATM card without her consent and also related that she sometimes used money withdrawn by the woman from her bank account, in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $17,000, to help her practice her counting.

Mr. O’Leary said Ms. Orcutt used some of the money she stole to pay her mortgage and bills and to buy computers for her children.

The thefts came to light after the victim noticed she was receiving less money in her paycheck and was told the change was because of a penalty she had to pay for the early withdrawal from her 401(k), according to the prosecutor.

Citing “the cruelty exhibited by the defendant and the fact that the thefts occurred “under the guise of friendship,” Mr. O’Leary recommended that Ms. Orcutt be sentenced to 2-1/2 years in the House of Correction with 1 year to be served and the balance suspended for 10 years with probation and restitution.

Mr. O’Leary said Ms. Orcutt was willing to pay $20,000 in restitution within two days and the balance of the money at a rate of $750 a month.

When asked by Judge Lemire whether Ms. Orcutt’s willingness to pay the $20,000 was contingent upon her not going to jail, Mr. O’Leary answered affirmatively, but said he was still recommending a jail sentence.

Ms. Orcutt’s lawyer, Brian Murphy, said his client had no prior criminal record and recommended that she be placed on probation for 10 years with the restitution order. Mr. Murphy said the repayment schedule, which was worked out during negotiations with a lawyer for the victim, would place a financial burden on both Ms. Orcutt and her husband.

Mr. Murphy said Ms. Orcutt would be unable to make the initial $20,000 payment if she were placed behind bars.

Nisha Koshy Cocchiarella, a lawyer representing the victim, said the woman was more interested in getting her money back than in seeing Ms. Orcutt go to jail. Ms. Cocchiarella said the disposition proposed by Mr. Murphy would also resolve a related civil lawsuit against Ms. Orcutt and that Ms. Orcutt and her husband would put up their house as security in the civil case.

Judge Lemire warned Ms. Orcutt that she would be facing a state prison sentence of up to 10 years if the restitution was not paid or she otherwise violated the terms of her probation. Other conditions of probation ordered by Judge Lemire prohibit Ms. Orcutt from having any contact with the victim or with other developmentally disabled people.