A behavioral analyst technician has been arrested after she was accused of abusing a disabled patient at a facility in Miami-Dade.
Nancy Petit Frere, 56, was arrested Monday on a charge of abuse of a disabled adult following an investigation by the Florida Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, an arrest affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, the victim is a resident of MacTown, a residential facility on Northeast 1st Place in Miami-Dade that treats adults diagnosed with developmental and intellectual disabilities who aren't able to live independently.
The victim, a 29-year-old woman, was deemed incompetent in 2021 by a Miami-Dade judge and was placed under the guardianship of her parents.
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The affidavit said another staff member at MacTown reported that Petit Frere hit the victim on top of her head with a fist in August of 2023.
The staffer said the victim had become agitated because she wasn't getting more soda, and the staffer went to assist Petit Frere in de-escalating the situation.
But Petit Frere hit the victim, and the victim started "crying hysterically, holding her head and screaming, 'it hurts,'" the affidavit said.
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Surveillance video from the facility confirmed the staffer's accusations, the affidavit said.
An internal investigation was conducted at the facility and Petit Frere was fired.
MacTown’s CEO Joshua Cones told NBC6 Petit Frere was terminated last August and is not eligible for rehire. Cones said the company reported the abuse to the Florida Department of Children and Families because they have "zero tolerance for abuse."
Cones added that the patient is doing ok.
Petit Frere was arrested Monday evening and booked into jail, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.
