Years before Bobbie Ward abused elderly and disabled adults in her unlicensed personal care homes, she was endangering children as a foster mother.
In February Ward was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A DeKalb County jury convicted her on 21 counts of false imprisonment, neglect, identity fraud, forgery and exploitation of elderly and disabled adults.
In 2002, when Ward was a foster mother, an 11-month-old boy died in her care.
“There’s no reason she should have been caring for people, particularly vulnerable adults or children,” said DeKalb District Attorney Robert James. “Not everybody has the best interests of the elderly, disabled or children at heart.”
In 2002, the state child welfare agency had already flagged Ward as potential trouble when it placed George Walker with her. Months earlier, her state caseworker had described her supervision skills as “questionable,” because she worked at night and slept during the day, according to agency records.
Ward got foster children through a private placement agency, but the state pulled its license in 2001. Officials said the agency had placed children in homes that did not meet state standards. Ward was allowed to keep her foster children while the state re-certified her.
Ward changed her work hours, and the state gave her George in October, 2002. He died less than five weeks later.
The baby choked to death on a hot dog while strapped in a car seat in the apartment of Ward’s 19-year-old daughter. Ward had violated state policy by leaving the child there without adequate supervision, state investigators found.
She did not face criminal charges.
By 2008, Ward was operating personal care homes for vulnerable adults. She housed them in at least 13 houses in DeKalb County over six years, authorities say. The facilities were not licensed by the state.
One of her residents said Ward had beaten him and burned him with curling irons. Another lived in a room whose ceiling was partially caved in. There were no working lights and the room was overrun with roaches, according to the DeKalb prosecutors.
James Duncan, 80, said Ward locked him in a house so filthy that he had to put plastic bags on his feet to walk down the hall. She practically starved him. He escaped by climbing out the window and flagged down a passing car.
“How horrifying,” said Velma Tilley, a Bartow County juvenile court judge who reviewed information on Ward at the request of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There are people in this world who prey on vulnerable people.”
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