Jackson, MS - A Jackson resident has been arrested and charged with exploitation of a vulnerable person, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Jay Lee Barber, Jr, age 56, of Jackson was arrested Monday by investigators of the Attorney General’s Vulnerable Adults Unit following indictment by a Hinds County Grand Jury on one count of exploitation of a vulnerable person.  Barber served as a caregiver to the alleged victim, who was 103 years old at the time of the exploitation.  The indictment alleges that Barber did, with knowledge of the victim’s vulnerability, exploit the victim by the illegal or improper use of the victim’s resources for his own profit or advantage…by deceiving and misleading the victim into signing an unlimited power of attorney and by then drawing significant amounts of money from the victim’s personal bank account in the approximate dollar amount of $28,860.  The alleged exploitation occurred between April 1, 2011 and August 1, 2012.

Barber was booked into the Hinds County jail where he is awaiting arraignment.  As with all cases, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by Perry Tate and will be prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General I. Mikell Buckley of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division.