Providence woman charged with neglect of disabled adult

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a Providence woman has been charged with willful neglect of an adult with severe impairments in her care.

On September 12, 2025, Roberta D. Gerard, 43, was charged in Providence County Superior Court with:

• Neglect of an adult with severe impairments
• Failing to provide necessary care, treatment, goods, and services for an adult with developmental disabilities
• Obstructing an officer in the execution of duty
• Knowingly making a false statement regarding a crime

According to court records, Gerard, a Direct Support Professional at Seven Hills Group Home in Lincoln, picked up her client, a 45-year-old woman with intellectual and developmental disabilities, for a scheduled “day out” on March 19, 2025.

Gerard allegedly stopped at a nail salon on Park Avenue in Cranston and left the victim alone in a black Lexus SUV for roughly an hour and a half, based on cell phone records. Upon returning, Gerard discovered the victim was missing and later went to the Cranston Police Department, giving what police say were multiple false accounts of what had happened.

After a five-day search, the victim was found on March 23, 2025, inside a Honda Pilot parked on Pond Street in Cranston, approximately a block and a half from the nail salon.

Gerard is scheduled to be arraigned on October 22, 2025, in Providence County Superior Court.