OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A woman who says she spent years living in an unlicensed assisted living facility is describing the “terrible” conditions inside the now-shuttered homes.
Jacqueline Wild said she spent about a decade in three homes operated by 56-year-old Marie Tarah Carenan and 60-year-old Ronald Pack.
She said she was desperate and felt trapped in the homes and claims her calls for help went ignored.
Channel 9 told you last month, the facilities owners and operators, Carenan and Pack were booked into the Osceola County Jail where they await a bond hearing. They are accused of running several unlicensed assisted living facilities in Osceola and Polk counties.
The husband and wife are facing several charges, including scheme to defraud, aggravated elder abuse, elder abuse, elder neglect, elder exploitation and welfare fraud.
Arrest documents say investigators found vulnerable adults living in conditions that included locked exits, controlled access to food and medication, and residents who allegedly went without needed care.
According to investigators there were over 300 service calls and complaints linked to the Osceola County properties, revealing a network operating under Cherish Home Care and Cherish Independent Living. Investigators alleged these homes were presented as independent living but actually provided services requiring assisted-living licensure under Florida law.
On Tuesday, Channel 9 met Jacqueline Wild at the new assisted living facility where she was placed less than 9 months ago.
Wild described the difference between Cherish Home Care and her new facility as “night and day.”
She recalled the conditions at homes operated by Carenan and Pack, “I called it a hellhole,” said Wild, “There was not enough toilet paper. People were stealing toilet paper, stealing food, stealing everything they could get their hands on. It was desperation.”
Wild described padlocked doors, locked fridges and deteriorating conditions inside the homes which investigators confirmed after serving search warrants.
According to Wild her freedom was gradually stripped, “Slowly it was taken away from me,” said Wild.
Wild said she wasn’t allowed to go for walks or to the gym for doctor-prescribed exercise and says she was mistreated inside the homes. She described the conditions as “depressing and terrible.”
Wild claims to have called DCF while inside the home asking for help, and said she begged a program known as the Florida Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) to find her somewhere else to live.
According to the arrest documents for Carenan and Pack, the state-backed FACT program had been placing patients in Carenan and Pack’s homes for years, with a program manager telling an Osceola County detective, “She had believed these clients were at a licensed assisted living facility, receiving care from a trained medical professional.”
Channel 9s Sabrina Maggiore tried to ask why and how FACT managers were unaware Cherish Home Care and Cherish Independent Living facilities were unlicensed, but a representative simply stated they had “no comment” Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Wild said when she learned Pack and Carenan were arrested she felt immediately relieved and was hopeful justice could be served.
“I said, thank you, God, hallelujah,” Wild said.
On Tuesday, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office stated the Office of Statewide Prosecution planned to speak with Wild in the coming weeks to learn more about what she experienced.
A spokesperson also confirmed the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office was still investigating and said more charges would be coming for both Carenan and Pack.
Investigators also confirmed that multiple people reported physical and sexual abuse inside the unlicensed facilities and investigators were looking into those allegations as well.
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