April 26, 2010 Media Contact: Jenn Meale Phone: (850) 245-0150

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TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Georgia woman has been taken into custody on charges that she abused a disabled adult under her care. Raquel A. Bravo, a certified nursing assistant employed by First Coast Health and Rehabilitation Center, was arrested today by law enforcement officers from the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with assistance from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit began investigating Bravo, 35, after receiving information from the Florida Department of Children and Families Adult Protective Services about alleged abuse. The investigation revealed that earlier this month, Bravo struck a disabled adult three times. Her actions were witnessed and reported, and the Health and Rehabilitation Center has placed her on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation.

Bravo is charged with one count of abusing a disabled adult, a third-degree felony. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The case will be prosecuted by State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit.