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Police: Woman arrested for posing as New Jersey child protective services worker
A New Jersey woman was arrested after police said she posed as a social worker and targeted at least five homes with infants. Love Hodge, 29, was charged with Impersonating a Public Servant, Burglary and additional offenses.
MAPLE SHADE, N.J. - A New Jersey woman was arrested after investigators said she posed as a state worker and knocked on a family's door to inquire about their infant daughter.
Love Hodge, 29, was charged with Impersonating a Public Servant, Burglary and additional offenses.
Officers from the Maple Shade Police Department were called to a home on Sunflower Path on July 23 for reports of a suspicious person. The caller told police that a woman came to her door claiming to be an employee with the New Jersey Department of Child Protection and Permanency.
Police say the phony employee did not show identification or a business card, and inquired about the woman's 5-month-old daughter. There were other children in the house, but police said she was only concerned with the woman's infant daughter.
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The victim later contacted police after she was shown a social media post that depicted the same woman posing as a Department of Child Protection and Permanency officer in another town, according to authorities.
Investigators later discovered that Hodge imitated a Department of Child Protection and Permanency worker in the previous three days. Police say she committed the same act in Mount Holly and Maple Shade on July 21, and in Camden on July 22.
All the homes that Hodge visited had infant girls, according to police.
Hodge was arrested on Thursday and committed to the Burlington County Jail, police said. Authorities have not been able to develop a motive for Hodge's alleged actions because she's not talking to investigators, FOX 29's Chris O'Connell reports.
Regina Brown claims that Hodges visited her home in Mount Holly and asked about her 7-month-old granddaughter. Brown told FOX 29 that she knew something was off when Hodges didn't show an ID.
"She came and only asked for the baby," Brown said. "I automatically thought she was here to take my 7-month-old baby, like, she wanted the baby."
Authorities believe there may be other victims and urged anyone who may have information to contact police.