KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
A police sergeant is accused of stealing more than $75,000 from his mother while she was in a nursing home.
Mark Stinson, 43, was charged on Tuesday with misappropriating funds from the nursing home resident, a Class D felony. He turned himself into the Platte County Jail Tuesday afternoon and was released on a $10,000 bond.
Stinson has been with the Kansas City Police Department for 17 years and was assigned to the Capital Improvements Section. The police department said Stinson has been suspended without pay.
The case against Stinson follows an intensive investigation by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, prosecutors said.
"We ought to be able to expect police officers to follow the law. In this case, not only sadly do we allege that a police officer broke the law," Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said. "But that he did so by stealing money from his own mother."
Stinson was given the authority to control his 67-year-old mother's financial affairs pursuant to a durable power of attorney she signed in July 2004, following the death of her husband, according to court documents.
Over a two-year period beginning in 2008, authorities allege Stinson utilized his mother's money when his personal expenses exceeded his income.
Stinson allegedly wrote checks totaling $66,390 payable to himself or to cash and distributed more than $9,600 for personal expenses, court records state. He also allegedly used $5,300 of his mother's money for car repairs.
During the same period, Stinson allegedly stopped paying his mother's rent payments at a Northland nursing home where she was a resident. His mother was evicted in March 2011 for not paying her rent.
"We allege the victim actually had the money she needed to pay for her own nursing home care," Zahnd said. "Unfortunately, rather than pay the nursing home, this defendant stole that money and used it for his own personal affairs rather than pay the rent at the nursing home."
The nursing home allegedly attempted to contact Stinson regarding payment from November 2010 to March 2011 but received no response from him. His mother is still liable for more than $12,000 to the nursing home and more than $9,000 to Uvanta Pharmacy.
The woman is now living in her home again with her other son and his family. Family members declined comment other than to say the woman is very upset and distraught.
If convicted, Stinson faces up to four years in prison.
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Sgt. Mark Stinson accused of stealing money from his mother
