Preston, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester woman has entered a guilty plea to a felony charge that was filed against her last year while she was on probation for a conviction involving similar allegations.

Court records say 49-year-old Buffy Jo Bathke, who previously lived in Preston, was employed by a company that provides both residential and in-home services to people with disabilities. The criminal complaint indicated that she worked with the victim in the case through her employment for about four years before becoming the person's legal guardian.

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The court document indicates the charges against her were the result of an investigation that began more than three years ago after Preston Police received a report from the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center that alleged Bathke was misusing funds belonging to a vulnerable adult. It was alleged that she used her role as legal guardian to make "impermissible purchases with the victim's checking account that totaled $16,511.44 between May 15, 2015 and August 2021."

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Bathke was charged with felony counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and theft by swindle. She is now admitted to the financial exploitation charge in exchange for the dismissal of the theft charge. Her plea agreement calls for a sentence of five years on probation and restitution. Bathke is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

Fillmore County Court records show that Bathke also entered into a plea agreement in 2023 in a similar case. She admitted to a felony theft by swindle charge and was sentenced to two years on probation and was ordered to pay $3500 in restitution.

The criminal complaint in that case says the charges were the result of the same report from the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center and involved crimes committed while she worked for the same company in Preston. In that case, the thefts occurred between March 2015 and August 2021.