Caregiver Sentenced to 4 Years for Stealing Jewelry from Clients

A 44-year-old Arlington Heights woman was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for stealing jewelry from a Northfield Township family whose homes she was working in as a caregiver, according to Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart.

Krisann Henderson was sentenced in Skokie after pleading guilty in December to one count of residential burglary and one count of theft over $500, according to a release from the Sheriff's office. She also pleaded guilty in a Rolling Meadows court to two of the same count for thefts from an Arlington Heights home and a Schaumburg home. She was sentenced in those crimes to two years in prison and will serve the terms concurrently. 

In total, she stole $25,000 worth of jewelry, the release says, all from mentally ill or physically impaired clients. The stolen items include a 35-karat aqua marine stone broach, 10-karat gold tennis bracelet with 35 round diamonds and a pearl necklace.

The case started a year ago when a Northfield Township man told sheriff's police that some of his wife's jewelry was missing, the press release explains. He couldn't give further details because his wife was in the hospital.

Several months later, she called investigators and gave them the name of the company that provided her in-home care. The company gave investigators a list of caregivers who had worked for the couple, and they learned that Henderson was a customer at an Arlington Heights pawn shop for the past four years and had pawned several items after the Northfield Township theft, the release says.

Investigators then discovered the other two thefts. She pleaded guilty to all three last month.

According to the sheriff's office's press release, when the judge asked Henderson if she wished to say anything to the court before her sentencing, she replied, “I am very sorry for what I did.”