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MELBOURNE, FLA. — Janet Schulte believed the man when he told her by phone that his 40-something, disabled brother needed a caregiver who could bottle-feed him and change his diapers.
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What the Melbourne woman can’t believe is that he committed no crime, now that she said she has found out the situation was a charade: that the man and his brother were same person.

And that he didn’t have the disabilities he claimed to have.

“I feel violated,” Schulte said, sharing her story because she said the man has deceived other women and will try again. “I feel disgusted.”

Investigators and prosecutors have refused to pursue charges, saying Schulte was paid and agreed to provide the care.

FLORIDA TODAY is not identifying him because he is not being charged.

“I consented to change his diapers, but I legitimately thought this man needed help,” she said. “How can that not be a crime for him to come into my house and expose himself?”

Sgt. David Marich, head of general crimes for the North Precinct of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, brought Schulte’s case to the State Attorney’s Office.

When prosecutors said there wasn’t enough evidence, Marich said his office did more research to try to find some statute that was violated.

“It’s a weird case,” Sheriff’s Lt. Tod Goodyear said. “It’s really on a borderline of possibly being a fraud. He is perpetrating something there because he’s doing it under a false pretense.”

FLORIDA TODAY tried several times to reach the man at his Port St. John home and on a cell phone. He did not answer the door or the phone.
How it started

The deception began, Schulte said, when she placed an ad online on Craigslist.org offering child care services.

She said a man called and asked Schulte if she knew any special-needs caregivers.

And, she said, his story went on.

The man told Schulte that a car accident left his brother with physical disabilities, including weak arms, poor bladder control and the mental capacity of a 5-year-old.

He told her how an aunt and current caregiver had no patience. He offered Schulte $600 a week to look after his brother.