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'We treated her like family': Valley moms say nanny stole thousands of dollars worth of items from them

At least four families in the Phoenix area who hired 21-year-old Kassidy Woodworth as a caregiver for their kids said Woodworth stole from their homes.

A 21-year-old nanny is accused of stealing hundreds of items worth thousands of dollars from the families she was working for.

According to court documents obtained by 12 News, at least four families in the Phoenix area say Woodworth took baby clothing, shoes, and accessories like headphones from their homes: approximately $10,000 worth of items in all.

One of the victims, is Kelly Rickard, a Valley mom who says she hired Woodworth on Care.com.

“We treated her like family, I thought of her as a little sister or daughter of my own,” Rickard said. 

She said she started noticing some of her children’s items were missing, so she asked her housecleaning staff, but nothing. Rickard said she even started to question herself and if she was leaving things in places she didn’t remember. 

Finally, Rickard said she got an email from Care.com notifying her the 21-year-old’s account had been suspended. That’s when she knew it had to be Woodworth who was taking stuff from her home.

“One of the bullets in that email said that it could be due to theft and stealing from a family. At that point, I reached out to the family I knew she was with most recently. They confirmed she had been stealing…then I sent Kassidy a text and she admitted through text that she had been stealing,” Rickard said.

According to court documents, Woodworth apologized and told one of the families she stole from them and that it was wrong of her to do that. 

The arrest report says Woodworth texted one of the mothers: 

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry about the clothes! I definitely should have asked—that was wrong of me and I had no right to do that. They were in your Goodwill bag and that doesn't make it any more right. I am so sorry. I actually took them off my account because I ended up feeling bad about that. I really don't know what to say other than I am so so so sorry."

The Paradise Valley family she apologized to told police Woodworth stole close to $5,000 worth of items from them. They said they later found Woodworth selling some of the items on Poshmark.com.   

Rickard says Woodworth stole more than 250 items from her home, also valued at close to $5,000. Most of those items have been returned. According to Rickard, the ex-nanny took the stolen property back to her home state in Washington, where it was being stored.

“I’m not the kind of mom that has nanny cams, and it makes me wonder and question whether I should have those in the future because this theft could have escalated into something more extreme with my children, and it definitely leaves me with concern. Where were my kids when all this took place?" Rickard said. 

Woodworth faces criminal charges for theft and trafficking stolen property. 12 News is investigating more criminal charges Woodworth could be facing in Washington, where she could have more victims.   

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