McALLEN — An Edinburg woman faces a felony charge after she allegedly tried to remove a child from her brother’s home while posing as a Child Protective Services investigator, according to a criminal complaint.
Pharr police arrested Candy Sue Moody Salinas, 27, on July 4 in connection to an April 18 incident in which police were called to a Pharr residence and told Moody had identified herself as a CPS employee and tried removing her brother’s child from the home.
A woman at the home asked Moody for identification but she failed to present any credentials. The woman suspected that Moody was not a CPS worker and called police.
Moody again identified herself as a CPS worker to an investigator and informed the officer that she didn’t have credentials with her.
“(The investigator) will testify that he further questioned (Moody) about her employment with CPS and (Moody) became nervous,” the complaint read. “(The investigator) will testify that (Moody) then changed her story that she was employed with Edinburg Children’s Hospital and was here on CPS’ behalf.”
Investigators with Pharr police contacted officials with the Edinburg hospital and spoke to the human resources department, who confirmed she was not in fact an employee there.
Police also contacted CPS officials, who stated that Moody was previously employed with CPS, but as “external” staff and not as an investigator. She had not been employed with CPS since 2016, according the investigator’s statement.
Moody is free on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond, jail records show.
This is not Moody’s first run-in with the law. In 2010, she was arrested in connection with a robbery charge, and again in 2016 on a possession of a controlled substance charge, court records show.
Moody pleaded not guilty to the robbery charge in 2011, but the case was ultimately dismissed by the court, according to records.
If convicted of the current charge, impersonating a public servant, a third degree felony, she could receive up to 10 years in state jail, and a $10,000 fine.
