Local

Care.com babysitter accused of stealing from local family

CHAMBLEE, Ga — A baby sitter has been arrested, accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a Chamblee family who vetted her on a popular website.
 
Gina Groves is accused of racking up thousands of dollars in charges on the family's credit cards.
 
Channel 2 investigative reporter Erica Byfield did some digging into Grove's past and found six mugshots going back more than two decades.
 
The McCarthys wanted a night out. So they used the popular website Care.com to find a baby sitter and paid for a background check.

They ended up hiring Grove.
 
"Reading her glowing reviews, I figured she would be perfect," said parent Keating McCarthy.
 
Grove watched McCarthy's son.
 
Things went so well the couple let her watch their dog while they were at the beach.
 
Soon they got a series of startling phone calls.
 
"She tried to open up several credit cards in my husband's name," McCarthy said.  
 
When they got home, the McCarthys found boxes and learned someone spent more than $5,000 on their credit cards.
 
"We opened up the box and there were seven shirts in there, totally not my style -- much, much larger sort of a muumuu style -- and I looked at them and I knew that was exactly something she would wear," McCarthy told Byfield.
 
When the sitter dropped off their dog, McCarthy said she grabbed her camera and snapped a picture of Grove's license plate. Then she called the police.
 
That's when the McCarthys said they learned their sitter has warrants in four metro counties: DeKalb, Fulton, Cherokee and Douglas.
 
"When I heard that I was just blown away," McCarthy said.  
 
The McCarthys said they also learned the sitter, who called herself Regina Christopher, was really Gina Groves.
 
Byfield asked Care.com for answers about how this could happen.

A company representative didn't answer her questions, but instead directed her to its safety page.
 
Groves is currently in the Douglas County Jail for violating her probation.
 
McCarthy wonders when she'll get out and if Care.com will make a change.
 
"We have gone back to trying to find friends and neighbors," McCarthy said.
 
Groves has a long criminal history. It dates back to the early '90s. Chamblee police told Byfield that when they arrested Groves, she tried to run.
 
Last week, Groves pleaded guilty to obstruction. A judge gave her 30 days in jail.

Groves is still facing fraud charges in DeKalb and Fulton counties.