Attorney General Alan Wilson announces caregiver charged with beating vulnerable adult

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that his office’s Vulnerable Adults and Medicaid Provider Fraud unit (VAMPF) has arrested Robin C. Hatley, 61 years old, of Laurens, S.C., for Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult {43-35-0085 (D)}. Hatley was booked into the Greenville County Detention Center on July 18, 2025.

A joint investigation by VAMPF and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office alleges that on June 14, 2025, Hatley, a caregiver at Pearl at Five Forks Memory Care Center in Simpsonville, S.C., struck a vulnerable adult resident multiple times on the head, face, and nose. The victim, classified as a vulnerable adult under South Carolina law, was a resident of the facility at the time of the alleged incident.

Pearl at Five Forks Memory Care Center reported this incident to law enforcement and cooperated fully with investigators. This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult is a felony and, upon conviction, has a penalty of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. 

Pursuant to federal regulations, VAMPF has authority over Medicaid provider fraud; abuse and neglect of Medicaid beneficiaries in any setting; and the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals residing in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. 

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

The South Carolina Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, dba VAMPF, receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,889,252 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $963,084 for FFY 2025, is funded by South Carolina.