Caretaker suspected in sex assault of elderly woman

LAKEWOOD – A bit of do-it-yourself sleuthing paid off for the family of an elderly woman

Gabriel Paul Cabral

in a local assisted living center when the video camera they placed in the woman’s room prompted the arrest of a caregiver at the facility, investigators say.

Police arrested Gabriel Paul Cabral, 41, after the woman’s family gave police a videotape with “images that led the family, as well as detectives to believe that a staff member had subjected the victim to unlawful sexual contact,” according to Lakewood Police spokesman Steve Davis.

Cabral remains in the Jefferson County Jail after his bond was set at $20,000 on charges of unlawful sexual contact with an at-risk adult. He is expected to make his next court appearance Feb. 19, according to county jail records.

Lakewood police detectives arrested Cabral after viewing the video taken by what Davis described as a “Nanny-cam” the family placed in the victim’s room at the facility in the 12700 block of West Alameda Avenue in December, the LPD spokesman said.

The woman’s family installed the hidden camera after becoming suspicious that she may have been mistreated, according to police.

“The video captured images that led the family, as well as detectives to believe that a staff member had subjected the victim to unlawful sexual contact,” according to Davis.

Investigators say Cabral was employed by more than one assisted living facility in the area and urge anyone with information about the suspect contact LPD detectives at 303-987-7111.

Because of the nature of the crime and the victim’s status as an at-risk adult “very little if any addition information can or will be released,” according to Davis.