A Lawrence group home “house mother” is facing criminal charges after allegedly stealing from children in her care.

Jennifer Silva Guerrero, 36, of Lawrence, is charged in two separate cases with one count of theft and seven counts of criminal use of a financial card.

In the criminal use of a financial card case, Guerrero is accused of using the debit card of a girl in her care at The Villages group home at 1149 East 1200 Road, where she lives with the youth assigned to reside there.

According to the affidavit for her arrest, a girl formerly assigned to live at the group home reported that when she arrived at the home, Guerrero took her debit card and allegedly asked for the card’s PIN number “so it could be kept on file.” The girl allegedly gave Guerrero the number, but said she need the card to pay court fines.

Guerrero allegedly refused to give her the debit card, saying that the girl’s probation officer told her not to let the girl have access to the card, which was untrue.

When the girl was released from The Villages’ custody about a month later, she obtained her debit card, only to find that her bank account had been emptied and nearly $500 was missing.

When Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies investigated the girl’s complaint, they found Guerrero on video at various stores around Lawrence using the girl’s debit card during the time the girl was in The Villages’ custody.

Once questioned, Guerrero said she had been using the girl’s debit card, but only with the girl’s permission. Guerrero claimed that the girl “would ask (her) to make several purchases and cash withdrawals for her,” according to the affidavit. She also said the girl was with her when she made purchases and withdrawals, though surveillance video proved otherwise.

In Guerrero’s theft case, the arrest affidavit was not immediately available. However Guerrero’s affidavit for the criminal-use charges indicated Guerrero is the suspect in more “theft cases where other youth residents are missing money, as well as possible official misconduct charges.”

The affidavit also notes that Guerrero is currently on parole out of Texas for felony theft of between $20,000 and $100,000.

The Villages Executive Director Sylvia Crawford said Friday that Guerrero was terminated “on the day the first criminal charge was filed against (her).”

The group home is currently hiring for new house parents, according to its website.