A Knoxville woman has been arrested for alleged abuse by financial exploitation of a dependent adult.

In October of 2016, Melisha Suzanne Miller was working as a caretaker for the Iowa Department of Human Services and caring for a woman at the woman’s home in Pella. In November 2016, the Pella Police Department was made aware that Miller had transported the woman to a Lowe’s in Des Moines and asked her to sign up for a Lowe’s credit card. According to court records, Miller then convinced the victim to buy a trailer and a lawn mower. Miller told the victim the trailer would be used to transport her wheelchair and without it she would be “stuck at home all the time.” The total cost of the transaction was $2147.94. The victim told her case manager that she felt confused and threatened at the time and that Miller had borrowed money before for rent and haircuts, but never paid it back. When confronted by officers, Miller called the purchase a “loan” and told officers she had paid the credit card bill in December. She said she had sold the trailer, but still has the lawnmower. Miller is charged with dependent adult abuse by financial exploitation, a class D felony.