Man Faked Down Syndrome For Baths, Diaper Changes From Female Caregivers

A 30-year-old man from Gilbert, Arizona, was facing five counts of sexual abuse and three counts of fraud for pretending to have Down syndrome and requesting diaper changes and baths from female care workers.

Paul Anthony Menchaca was accused by three women who worked as caregivers and separately aided him before they realized he was faking the disability.

According to court documents, Menchaca started his façade in May. Care workers responded to an ad in Carelinx.com, which was posted by Menchaca himself under the fake name “Amy,” the documents said. The ad from the website, which describes itself as “a nationwide caregiver marketplace” designed to help families “easily find, hire, manage and pay licensed caregivers online,” requested caregivers to attend to Amy’s son who had Down syndrome.

A caregiver said she helped Menchaca bath and change his diaper in 30 separate requests at different places in Gilbert and Chandler, but never at his home. The court document said the caregiver recalled at least five separate incidents when Menchaca “aggressively” said his genitals were not cleaned properly.

The caregivers also added he would get sexually aroused when they washed his genitals.

The second caregiver was referred to by the first, and the third was referred by the former two. They all agreed to the request and to be paid by “Amy” who they communicated via text about instructions and payment arrangements. They had no other form of interaction with her.

"'Amy' asked all three victims to ‘punish’ [Menchaca] when he soiled his diaper by putting him in timeout and taking away his privileges,” the probable cause for arrest statement said. “All three victims were paid in cash by [Menchaca] when they picked him up and dropped him off from neutral locations.”

"He acted like a child. His demeanor was child-like, so he would have tantrums, he would act like a child," one of the caregivers said. "He would just be clapping, he would be smiling and talking to us when we were changing (him)."

According to the police, the first caregiver Menchaca hired grew suspicious of his behavior earlier this month and followed him after he was dropped off, and found him walking off to his original home.

“[The victim] was greeted by [Menchaca’s] actual mother and father and discovered [Menchaca] did not have Down syndrome and did not require diaper changes,” the statement said.

The caregivers then confronted the man who admitted to lying about his condition, reports said.

When the caregivers provided investigators with “Amy’s” phone number, it was found it actually belonged to Menchaca.

Menchaca was working for the Chandler Unified School District in support staff positions. He resigned from his post Aug.31, reports said. The district clarified he never directly worked with students without the supervision of certified staff.

A letter from Principal Nathan Fairchild of Bogle Junior High where Menchaca worked before said, “I’m writing to inform you that Paul Menchaca, a former aide in Ms. DeMann’s classroom at Bogle, was arrested last Thursday evening at his home in Gilbert. His arrest was not related to his work with children at Bogle Junior High or any other CUSD school. He resigned the week previous and is no longer employed by the school district. Though his arrest did not involve any of our students, we had previously notified the parents of the classroom where he had worked as an aide and wanted you to be aware as well.”

Menchaca was arrested Sept. 6 from his parent’s home.

A preliminary hearing of the case will be held Monday. Menchaca was unrepresented by counsel in his initial court appearance Friday. There he spoke about his low IQ level after Commissioner Michelle Carson told him the proceedings were being recorded.

“Anything you say can and will be held against you in future proceedings,” Carson said. “You are unrepresented by counsel.”

“I just want to let you know I am special needs,” Menchaca said. “I do have a low IQ level. And … my mom and dad both have paperwork to prove that. And I’m starting to talk to my dad about getting me some help and getting me into a counselor and probably like a rehab center to talk to somebody.”

Carson told Menchaca he was to have no contact with any of the alleged victims, if he posts his secured appearance bond of $15,000 and is released.

“You must obey the terms of any order of protection or order against harassment that’s issued or may be issued in the future,” Carson said.

"He's going to get what he deserves for fooling everybody like this," a caregiver said.