How Could You? Hall of Shame-Patrick Mays

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Angleton, Texas, ex-CPS worker, Patrick Mays,38, ” is facing felony identity-theft charges for opening credit-card accounts with information stolen from at least six people with whom he worked custody cases, Brazoria police said.”

“Police wrote in affidavits that Patrick Mays, 38, a former investigator with CPS, opened several Capital One and American Express credit-card accounts with “information he had obtained through his official duties as an employee of the Child Protective Services.”

Mays is charged with seven counts of fraudulent use or possession of identifying information and was being held Friday in the Brazoria County jail on $175,000 bond.

Public records indicate Mays does not have a court date and has yet to be indicted. He does not appear to have an attorney.

The seven victims lived in San Antonio and Brazoria County. Six of them told police they had cases with CPS, and most of them specifically remembered Mays as the investigator. Another woman reported that she had her purse and other documents stolen in Spring.

Brazoria Police Detective Larry Linscombe said Mays’ mother-in-law also alleged that Mays used her information, but she declined to file charges.

Police busted the case open after one of the victims had been tipped off by Capital One that someone was trying to open an account in her name. Police matched the applicant’s address with that of Mays in Brazoria County, and subsequently found other victims.

Once police approached Mays about the allegations, Linscombe said he had a nervous breakdown and had to be transported to a mental health hospital before being booked into jail Jan. 14.

The probable-cause affidavits range from January to February, when the credit cards first started arriving at Mays’ Brazoria home.

Linscombe said he is still looking into whether Mays used any of the credit cards.

A CPS spokeswoman said Mays was fired in January after some of the allegations came to light.

Mays had worked for CPS in the Angleton area since October 2015, and before that in San Antonio from 2012 to 2014, according to CPS spokeswoman Tiffani Butler.

Butler said CPS does not believe there are any other victims. She said new investigators typically go through training with a mentor who scrutinizes the investigator’s work as a measure to protect against crimes such as the allegations against Mays.”

Ex-CPS worker accused of identity theft [Houston Chronicle 2/12/16 by Mihir Zaveri]

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