8-26-2009 Wisconsin:
Schwab rules they were voluntary
Freeborn County District Court Judge Steve Schwab has denied the motions made by Brianna Broitzman’s lawyer that his client’s statements to authorities be thrown out in the case of alleged elder abuse at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea.
In a written order filed Aug. 12, Schwab states Broitzman’s statements were not the result of custodial interrogation and that they were voluntarily given.
He defined custodial interrogation as “questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.”
Broitzman, 20, faces 11 charges, ranging from fifth-degree assault, criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult, disorderly conduct and mandatory failure to report suspected abuse at the nursing home during the first part of 2008. Local authorities interviewed her about the allegations on May 6, 2008.
During Broitzman’s contested omnibus hearings in May and June, the young woman’s attorney, Larry Maus, questioned the constitutionality of his client’s statements to authorities.
Schwab said in this case, Broitzman came to the Law Enforcement Center “on her own volition and at the request of her employer.”
When she arrived, she was thanked for coming in to give a statement and was told that the interview was voluntary and that she could leave at any time. She “responded to all of the questions posed to her and never asked to leave the interview,” he continues. “Following the interview, the defendant was escorted into the waiting room and allowed to leave.”
Maus argued that the advisory given to his client should have been recorded.
Though the interview took place at the Law Enforcement Center, an interrogation is not custodial simply because of that, Schwab said. There is no requirement that police record noncustodial questionings.
Maus argued that police believed the defendant to be a perpetrator, and because of this the interrogation was custodial.
Schwab said an interrogation is not custodial simply because the questioned person is a suspect.
Regarding the voluntary nature of Broitzman’s statements to authorities, the judge wrote that he reviewed a variety of issues that might render a statement as involuntary, including “improper inducements to confess, promises, exploitation of religious beliefs and fear produced by threats.”
Maus showed concern with statements made by the investigating officers during the interview; however, Schwab stated, “There were no improper inducements or promises made by the investigating officers. As such, the statements were voluntary and admissible.”
The defense also argued that the second statement given to Minnesota Department of Health Investigator Jolene Bertelsen on May 15, 2008, be suppressed as “fruit of the poisonous tree,” but Schwab also dismissed this.
He said this interview was a “civil investigation conducted independently of the criminal investigation. (Broitzman’s) lawyer was present during the entire interview and it was conducted in her attorney’s office.”
Because he ruled that the statements obtained on May 6, 2008, were voluntary and were not the result of custodial interrogation, the statements the next week were not tainted either, he stated.
Lastly, regarding the defense’s motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of probable cause, Schwab stated there was “sufficient evidence to believe that the defendant committed the offenses charged and as such, it is fair and reasonable to require the defendant to stand trial.”
Thus, that motion was also denied.
Charges in the case came in December after an investigation into the allegations of abuse; however, details of the allegations surfaced last August after the release of the Department of Health’s report.
It concluded four teenagers were involved in verbal, sexual and emotional abuse of 15 residents at the nursing home in Albert Lea. The residents suffered from mental degradation conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Co-defendant Ashton Larson, who faces 10 charges similar to Broitzman’s, will come before the court today for her contested omnibus hearing on several of the same constitutionality issues.
Freeborn County District Court schedules show that a plea hearing in Broitzman’s case will be on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ..Source.. by Sarah Stultz | Albert Lea Tribune
August 26, 2009
WI- Judge denies motion to toss out statements
March 10, 2009
OK- Tulsa man sentenced for nursing home rape
Here we have a tragic case, a sex offense by an employee of the nursing home, not by a former sex offender.
3-10-2009 Oklahoma:
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A former Tulsa nursing home employee has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for raping a resident.
James Mack was sentenced Monday after being convicted of first-degree rape in the August 2007 attack on the woman who lived at the Southern Hills Retirement Community.
The 33-year-old Mack will have to serve almost 30 years in prison before he'll be eligible for parole.
Prosecutors say the 33-year-old Mack admitted engaging in a sex act with the victim, but his defense attorney says there is no evidence the woman was raped.
Records show the woman died in 2007. ..News Source.. by KTEN.com
Alzheimer's patient called 'perfect victim' during rape trial
2-19-2009 Oklahoma:
An 85-year-old Alzheimer’s patient who was taken from her nursing home and raped in 2001 made “the perfect victim,” a Tulsa police officer testified Thursday.
An Alzheimer’s patient “is simply unable to communicate effectively,” Sgt. Pat Calhoun told Tulsa County jurors.
In this case, the woman was unable to talk about what happened to her, he said.
The case had to be investigated almost like a homicide because of an inability to get any information about the attacker from the victim, said Calhoun, who supervised the Tulsa Police Department’s Sex Crimes Division when the investigation was launched.
He said that when he met the woman, she would smile and “make utterances” but provided no real responses.
Investigators looked at current and past employees of the nursing home, Calhoun indicated.
“Whoever did this had access” in a facility where doors were locked, Calhoun said.
A man who prosecutors say was a former employee, James Edward Mack Jr., was charged in August 2007 with first-degree rape in the case.
Mack, 33, is on trial in District Judge William Kellough’s court.
He is accused of carrying the patient out of the Southern Hills Retirement Community, 5170 S. Vandalia Ave., and sexually assaulting her on May 23, 2001.
The woman died in August 2007 at age 91, reports show.
Tulsa Police Capt. Tim Jones, who lived near the Southern Hills Retirement Community in May 2001, testified that he was off duty and driving home from a security job around 5 a.m. when he saw what he thought was “a bundle” lying in the street.
It turned out to be the patient, clad in a nightgown, wearing no shoes and one sock.
“I tried to talk to her,” Jones said. She made “good eye contact” but “wasn’t able to speak to me.”
Investigators found the window screen hanging from the frame outside the woman’s nursing home room, police have said.
Prosecutors Jack Thorp and Lee Berlin contend that DNA evidence supports the rape charge against Mack.
In an opening statement to jurors Wednesday, Berlin said evidence will show that Mack “was there that night.”
Mack admitted to police that “he engaged in a sexual act” with the patient, Berlin said.
Defense lawyer Brian Martin said that Mack — whom he said was interviewed for more than five hours and lied to by police — “tells them a story to get out of there.”
Mack told police that the woman fondled him, but she would have no ability to do that, Martin said.
“No one will be able to come in here and tell you” that she was raped, the defense lawyer told jurors in his opening statement.
Testimony is scheduled to run into next week. Mack is in the Tulsa Jail.
March 4, 2009
OK- State: No bids for sex offender facility
3-4-2009 Oklahoma:
EDMOND — A state agency received no bids for a first-in-the-nation stand-alone nursing facility for sex offenders, and a lawmaker said a recent Edmond incident validates the need.
The proposal for the long-term care facility was open for bid from Dec. 2 through Feb. 3, and there were no bids or requests for proposal as directed by state law, said Henry Hartsell Jr., deputy commissioner of Protective Health Services, a division of the State Health Department.
Hartsell said the Health Department initiated the request for the proposal as directed by state law. Now, due to the lack of interest, the agency will have to re-evaluate what to do next, he said.
The delay means it will take longer for the facility to become a reality.
And the facility will come too late to help the 67-year-old resident of Grace Living Center of Edmond, who police said was allegedly sexually assaulted by a then 93-year-old male resident in September.
I love how they mislead the public, the 93-year-old resident WAS NOT a prior sex offender (and he died yesterday), so even if the facility was built, the circumstances would not have prevented that sexual assault. That is one MAJOR FLAW in the thinking behind this nonsense of a separate facility for CERTAIN prior sex offenders (the bill only covers level II and III sex offenders). This entire law and the theory behing it is like a cake of swiss cheeze, full of holes.
In December, Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, who wrote the law requiring the facility, said he was pleased that the state was “moving so swiftly” to build it.
Steele said he will schedule a meeting with the State Health Department to review the issue.
“We’re not giving up by any means,” Steele said Tuesday afternoon.
Officials will try to determine why no bids were submitted and what to do to address the industry’s concerns, Steele said.
Likely concerns include liability issues, and funding additional security measures such as including video surveillance in common areas and additional needed staff, Steele said.
Other Oklahomans also were surprised by the development.
Scott Rowland, first assistant district attorney with the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office, said he was surprised and disappointed by the news about an absence of bids.
Rowland said the need for a stand-alone, secure long-term care facility for sex offenders is enormous.
Citizen advocate Wes Bledsoe, founder of A Perfect Cause, an elder and disabled advocacy group, had a similar reaction.
“I’m shocked an operator did not step forward,” Bledsoe said.
Bledsoe said he hopes an operator who understands the needs will make a bid.
Steele said he is determined to complete what was started, that Oklahoma senior citizens deserve to be able to live without fear. Steele said he hopes an operator will be approved sometime this year — and soon.
Officials have said there are about 30 known sex offenders currently residing in Oklahoma nursing homes and that number is expected to grow. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections estimates 2,250 inmates convicted of sex crimes will be released from prison in the next 10 years. ..News Source.. by Mark Schlachtenhaufen, The Edmond Sun
Another misleading fact, of the 2,250 released sex offenders, how many will need to services of a PUBLIC nursing home. Once someone is released from prison there are no controls over them, the state cannot force free people into specially designated facilities. Further, how many will be designated levels II and III? Making statements like this, without even considering relevant facts, completely misleads the public and other legislators.
December 31, 2008
NY- Nursing home employee under investigation for sexual abuse
12-31-2008 New York:
The state Department of Health is investigating whether an employee at a Rochester nursing home sexually abused a resident, health officials said today.
The health department received a complaint last week about a Shore Winds Nursing Home staff member, according to spokesman Jeffrey Hammond. He said health department officials visited the nursing home on the same day the complaint was made and are continuing to investigate the incident.
Hammond said law enforcement is involved.
No one at the Shore Winds, 425 Beach Ave., was immediately available to comment this afternoon. ..News Source.. by Justina Wang • Staff writer
December 24, 2008
FL- Boynton Beach nursing home resident, 20, charged in sexual attack on elderly woman
A mentally ill patient who was not a RSO.
12-24-2008 Florida:
BOYNTON BEACH — An elderly woman was sexually assaulted by a resident at an assisted-living home, city police said.
Johnathan Russell, 20, of Boynton Beach was arrested Monday and charged with lewd and lascivious molestation, according to an arrest affidavit.
Russell, who has a history of mental illness, came to live at Boynton Beach Assisted Living Facility, at 1708 N.E. Fourth St., on Dec. 11, molested the 70-year-old woman there, the affidavit stated.
The woman was taken to Bethesda Memorial Hospital, where doctors found evidence of the attack on Sunday.
In an interview with police Detective Chris Crawford, Russell admitted to the attack.
Court records show Russell has a history of mental illness.
He was taken to the Palm Beach County Jail, where he remained this morning.
Boynton Beach Assisted Living Facility can house up to 118 elderly or mentally ill residents, including 68 low-income tenants, state records show. ..News Source.. by MICHAEL LaFORGIA, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
December 22, 2008
ND- Man found guilty in nursing home assault
8-17-2007 North Dakota:
Authorities say a Cando man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting an 86-year-old Nursing Home resident, court officials say.
James Torkelsen was convicted today following a bench trial before Northeast District Judge Lee Christofferson.
Torkelsen had pleaded not guilty to three counts of criminal sexual assault.
Torkelsen worked at the Towner County Living Center. Authorities say the assaults happened between February 2004 and last year.
A sentencing date has not been set.
Torkelsen faces up to 15 years in prison and a 15-thousand dollar fine. ..News Source.. by KZZY FM
December 16, 2008
CO- Nursing Home Caretaker Accused Of Beating Stroke Patient
12-16-2008 Colorado:
Ashley Manor Fires Kalen Randolph
AURORA, Colo. -- A nursing home worker is in jail, accused of nearly beating to death an elderly patient in his care.
Aurora Police said Kalen Randolph, 23, assaulted a 74-year-old stroke victim at Ashley Manor in the early morning on Aug. 22.
"He struck him repeatedly. Turns out, he had serious bodily injury, according to one doctor. (Randolph) also then fled the scene leaving eight of these elderly patients at the home without supervision," said Aurora Police spokesman Detective Bob Friel.
The victim is recovering from injuries to the head, ear and hand. Police said communicating with the victim has been difficult because he's a stroke patient and even before this incident he could only say three words: "No," "Right" and "Dammit."
A spokesman for Ashley Manor said nothing in Randolph's background suggested a propensity for this type of behavior.
"We are shocked and saddened by the events that are alleged to have taken place," the center said in a statement.
Because of a 911 hangup call, police responded quickly to the attack at 3:40 a.m., but Randolph was not in the area.
"We know that he ended up meeting with a girlfriend and having sex in her car. And that's what he was doing at the time when these elderly patients were left in the home," said Friel.
Randolph, a certified nurse's assistant, is charged with eight counts of neglect and one count of second-degree assault.
Ashley Manor has fired him and will ask the state to revoke his license.
Ashley Manor is a small facility for Alzheimer's and brain injury patients. It has only nine patients. ..News Source.. by Russell Haythorn, 7NEWS Reporter
December 14, 2008
DE- Bissell workers accused of abuse face no charges
12-14-2008 Delaware:
Three fired, two on suspension
No criminal charges will be filed against several caregivers whose abuse of an elderly patient at the state-run Emily P. Bissell Hospital was captured on a surveillance camera, according to the Delaware Attorney General's Office.
The agency is declining to prosecute even though investigations by the hospital and the state's Division of Long Term Care Resident Protection substantiated the allegations, said Jason Miller, an attorney general spokesman.
He did not elaborate on the reasons for not prosecuting.
Three employees were terminated and another two were suspended without pay, said Public Health Director Jaime "Gus" Rivera.
Four of the five employees also have been placed on the state's Adult Abuse Registry, a list of caregivers who have substantiated allegations of abuse.
"We're not happy about them not criminally prosecuting the wrongdoers," said Curt Olsen, the fiance of one of the patient's nieces. "There were one or two decent people that genuinely cared there, but half the staff should be put on the abuse registry. Every one of them were verbally abusive."
Three of those employees already have scheduled appeals in January to be removed from the list, said Heidi Truschel-Light, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.
The registry now incudes 246 people against whom substantiated allegations of abuse have been made. Twenty-five cases are pending appeal.
The 75-year-old woman in question was in the Bissell Hospital with a fractured leg after a fall in January 2007.
She is expected to be moved to the state-run Delaware Home for the Chronically Ill next month.
"We approved that," said Rivera, who oversees the operations of both facilities as well as Governor Bacon Health Center in Delaware City. "The question is, when can we move her? Optimally, we'd like to move her over in January. That would be best for everyone."
Disagreements between two different factions in her family regarding the level of care being given at Bissell led to a mandatory mediation in October resulting in the appointment of a public guardian.
The guardian requested she be moved to the Smyrna facility.
"We are extremely happy that she is being moved to Smyrna, where we can visit her every day," Olsen said. "I wouldn't want to be a patient in Emily P. Bissell, put it that way."
In mid-June, the woman, who suffers from dementia and diabetes, told two of her nieces that staff members were mean to her, Olsen said.
It was another niece, who had the aunt's power of attorney, who had admitted her to the facility and was considered her guardian, Olsen said.
On visits during the course of her stay, Olsen, his fiancee and her sister, Florance MacDonald, noticed signs of neglect in their aunt's personal hygiene.
In response to a theft in July, MacDonald took it upon herself to buy a $600 motion-sensitive video camera and conceal it in her aunt's room.
When the family viewed what was captured on the camera, they saw staff mistreating the bedridden aunt, yelling at her and slapping her hands and face while she was pleading for help.
A flurry of e-mails followed between the three family members and hospital officials that ended with them delivering the DVD showing the evidence of abuse to the state's Division of Long Term Care Resident Protection on July 23.
The agency is charged with inspecting the 46 skilled nursing homes and four intermediate-care facilities in the state -- with a total of 5,910 beds -- issuing licenses, conducting criminal background checks, enforcing regulations and monitoring the welfare of nursing-home patients.
On Aug. 15, the hospital barred the three family members, who were already on restricted visits, from visiting their aunt altogether.
The visitation resumed on Oct. 30 after a mandatory mediation was held between both factions of the family and a public guardian appointed.
The case is one of the 14,255 complaints handled by the Division of Long Term Care this year already, said Jay Lynch, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Social Services.
Of that number, 3,327 were investigated for abuse, neglect, mistreatment and financial exploitation, and 1,707 cases were substantiated.
Last year, there were 19,499 complaints handled, 2,985 of which were assigned investigations, Lynch said.
Of those investigated, 1,769 were substantiated cases.
"Anytime there is an investigation, it is shared with the state Attorney General's Office," Lynch said.
In 2007, the Attorney General's Office received 308 referrals of patient abuse and opened 52 cases, spokeswoman Kerry Angell said.
This year, the office had opened 68 investigations on the 288 cases referred, she said. ..News Source.. by TERRI SANGINITI • The News Journal
MN- Nursing home abuses: Why?
12-14-2008 Minnesota:
Unsettling reports inspire broad look for what is amiss
Following shocking reports of physical and sexual abuse at Minnesota nursing homes, elder advocates and nursing home providers met Friday with one question on their minds.
What are we missing here?
While the abuse incidents don't reflect the compassion of most caregivers, they have state leaders re-evaluating everything from the "moral compass" of nursing assistants to the training they receive and the laws that regulate them.
At the Good Samaritan nursing home in Albert Lea, two former workers were accused of spitting at, groping and screaming at residents earlier this spring to make their jobs more fun.
"The Albert Lea situation is extraordinary because of the conspiracy of silence, the number of employees involved, the apparent planning or near-planning of the abusive activities, and the period of time over which the abuses occurred," said Darryl Shreve, a policy analyst for Aging Services of Minnesota, the trade group representing nonprofit nursing homes.
State investigations of nursing home complaints have increased: There have been 342 so far this year compared with 306 last year and 203 in 2005. Confirmed cases of physical, sexual or emotional abuse have held steady. Fifteen abuse cases have been substantiated so far this year, compared with 19 in all of 2007.
The complaint reports detail a wide range of cases, from a slap in one case to prolonged sexual and physical abuse by workers at nursing homes in Montevideo and Albert Lea.
Albert
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Lea is a case study of what happens when workers lose all respect for residents, said Dr. Robert Kane, a long-term-care expert at the University of Minnesota.
"Right now, they see themselves as sort of semi-gardeners or groomers whose job is to water and fertilize or whatever as opposed to caring for human beings and recognizing the humanness of these people," Kane said.
Kane credited the leaders at the Albert Lea home for providing mentoring to young workers and other training in the wake of the abuse incidents.
Two workers, Brianna Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Larson, 18, were fired and face criminal charges for the alleged abuse of vulnerable adults. Four other workers, all younger than 18, have been cited for failing to report the abuse, which didn't come to light until one worker mentioned it during an exit interview.
Kane said he sees a cultural change taking place in the creation of smaller four- or eight-bed nursing homes in which residents and workers develop closer bonds. If that spirit can be fostered in larger facilities, he suspects, they will be able to recruit more workers who care about residents.
"If you're making cookies with them," he said, "you look at them differently than if you're just wheeling them down to dinner."
Part of the problem is the rapidly changing environment of today's nursing homes. Many seniors are staying home with support services as long as possible, leaving nursing homes mostly with residents who are frail and suffering dementia.
The majority of nursing home residents abused this year had some form of dementia, according to state reports. These residents not only suffer confusion, but their loss of memory and communication skills can also make them belligerent. In a couple of instances of abuse, staff members hit residents who had hit them first.
Investigative reports of a worker hitting a resident at another Good Samaritan home in Windom showed that the worker felt justified. The worker has since been fired and charged with abuse.
"(The resident) strikes out all the time and has given me a bloody nose. I just feel like I have a right," the worker told investigators, according to the report. "I know he's a vulnerable adult. It's hard working with someone that's continually abusive all the time."
Nursing homes must at least comply with a 2003 law to train caregivers on the challenges of caring for dementia patients, said Mark Wandersee, executive director of the Elder Care Rights Alliance. Some are going further by conforming their schedules to residents' quirky habits to make them more comfortable and less likely to lash out.
"Elder abuse is where child abuse or domestic abuse was 30 to 40 years ago," Wandersee said. "Nobody wanted to talk about it."
The encouraging sign following the Albert Lea news is the amount of discussion that has emerged. A national elder-care advocate held a forum in the southern Minnesota town Thursday night. About 50 people showed up to express concerns.
Wandersee's advocacy group was part of Friday's meeting with the leaders of Minnesota nursing home organizations. Ideas discussed included more training for law enforcement on elder abuse and lists of abuse warning signs that could be distributed publicly.
While the abuses are inexcusable, the Albert Lea case has gained unusual attention because the workers were identified through police reports and their "prom queen" photos were published in the media, said Patti Cullen of Care Providers of Minnesota, the trade group for for-profit nursing homes in the state.
"I'm hoping it's a media frenzy that's an opportunity to change things," she said.
Part of the shock in Albert Lea has been the age of the workers. Minnesota law allows anyone 16 or older to work as nursing assistants if they complete a basic training course or agree to do so upon employment.
At least half of other states set the age limit at 18.
Cullen and others in nursing home care were resistant to raising the age limit, particularly at a time when good nursing assistants are hard to recruit and retain. Many of the best caregivers entered the profession at young ages, she said.
Aging Services of Minnesota is offering a higher-level degree program that elevates nursing assistants to health-support specialists.
Pine Technical College offers a virtual reality simulator that puts nursing assistants in real-life scenarios and challenges them to remain calm and happy while making quick decisions.
"The retaliation against a resident with dementia who lashes out is prohibited," said Shreve, of Aging Services. "How do you prevent it? Training, training, training. But if you're a female nursing assistant providing care to a male resident who suddenly and without warning grabs your breast, the instinctual response might not be the best one.
"The training needs to emphasize watching for signs of agitation, aggressiveness, combativeness, etc., and to stress that you back away from the resident while trying to calm them down."
The U's Kane said training is important. But the latest abuse cases suggest the need to change the entire environments in which caregivers work.
"These are markers," he said, "of the need for a larger revolution." ..News Source.. by Jeremy Olson
KY- Owensboro nursing home under investigation
12-14-2008 Kentucky:
Owensboro, KY (WFIE) - An investigation is underway after a resident at an Owensboro nursing home died early Monday morning, almost 2 months after police say he was severely beaten by a younger resident.
Police and the Daviess County Coroner believe Leslie Mulligan, 78, died from injuries suffered in an attack that occurred at the rest home on October 17th.
Now the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has opened an investigation into Mulligan's death.
Just before 6:30 at night on October 17th, Owensboro police were called to the Rosedale Rest Home on Sutton Lane.
Marian Cosgrove with the Owensboro Police Department says, "It was stated that Mr. Jackson had hit the victim in the face and had struck him and when he was on the ground had kicked him and stomped on his head. That's what ultimately caused the initial injuries."
Christopher Lee Jackson, 22, who also lived at the home, was arrested for the beating and taken to the Daviess County Detention Center.
Leslie Mulligan had suffered a fractured skull, bleeding from the brain, broken left elbow and a severe injury to his left ear.
"His injuries were severe and would have been severe for anyone," says Daviess County Coroner Bob Howe.
Mulligan died Monday morning, and an investigation has been opened.
Howe says blunt force trauma is the cause of Mulligan's death.
He is waiting for the official autopsy from the state medical examiners office before ruling his death a homicide.
This is not the first investigation the Cabinet has done on the Rosedale Rest Home.
In May, Dorthy Gaskins, a resident there, walked away from the facility.
The coroner ruled Gaskins drowned.
Her body was discovered in the Ohio River by a boater.
The owner of the Rosedale Rest Home, Drew Haynes, did not return our phone call Thursday. ..News Source.. by Stuart Peck
December 11, 2008
VA- Coma Patient Sex Abuse
12-11-2008 Virginia:
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) - A Chesapeake man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a comatose female patient at a nursing home where he worked.
Mark Albright faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced March 24 after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual battery. Albright worked as a licensed practical nurse at the Chesapeake Health and Rehabilitation Center.
Police say an employee entered the room of a 43-year-old patient to conduct nightly medical duties and observed Albright with his mouth on the woman's breast. Police say the patient, who was in a coma and unresponsive, had been at the center for about a year.
Albright is no longer employed at the center. ..News Source.. by CBS 6 WTVR
NY- Nursing home aide denies sexually assaulting resident
12-11-2008 New York:
LOCKPORT — A nurse’s assistant who was accused of sexually assaulting an 89-year-old female nursing home patient pleaded not guilty to a two-count indictment Wednesday in Niagara County Court.
David M. Payne, 46, of Niagara Avenue, Niagara Falls, denied charges of first-degree criminal sexual act and first-degree sexual abuse. The maximum penalty if he is convicted as charged is 25 years in prison.
Payne was arrested after the incident that allegedly occurred in the victim’s room between 2 and 3 a. m. Aug. 29 in Niagara Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, 822 Cedar Ave. A coworker told police he caught Payne in bed with the woman.
Assistant District Attorney Robert A. Zucco said Payne gave a mouth swab for a DNA sample when he was questioned by police the day of the attack. Police also obtained a search warrant and seized some of Payne’s property from the nursing home. Payne is free on $20,000 bail. ..News Source.. by The Buffalo News
CA- Police: Nursing Assistant May Have Fondled Other Patients
12-11-2008 California:
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Investigators asked for the public's help Tuesday to determine if a certified nursing assistant accused of fondling two female patients in an Anaheim nursing home has committed similar acts elsewhere.
Alejandro Arias, 35, of Cypress, is jailed while awaiting trial on six felonies and one misdemeanor charge stemming from allegations that he touched the breast of an 84-year-old woman and forced her to touch his genitals in April, said Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez.
Arias is also accused of similar acts involving a 60-year-old woman while working at the nursing home in the 100 block of Knott Avenue.
"We have reason to believe there may be other victims who have not reported their assaults," Martinez said.
Arias, who has been a certified nursing assistant for about two years, was arrested Nov. 24.
The 84-year-old woman reported the alleged touching a few months ago while she was institutionalized, prompting an investigation, Martinez said.
In July, the 60-year-old alleged victim made her accusations, the sergeant said.
Arias is charged with felony sexual battery on an institutionalized person, attempted sexual battery, sexual penetration with a foreign object, two counts of sexual penetration of an institutionalized person and sexual battery by touching. He also was charged with misdemeanor touching of an institutionalized person.
His next court appearance is Dec. 11 for a pretrial hearing. ..News Source.. by
MN- At Montevideo nursing home, reports of abuse
12-11-2008 Minnesota:
In Montevideo, an aide abused residents physically, sexually and emotionally. But charges are unlikely because the victims had dementia.
In a case similar to one that has rocked Albert Lea, the Minnesota Department of Health said Monday that a nursing home aide in Montevideo, Minn., physically, sexually and emotionally abused six elderly residents over a period of about six months early this year.
Unlike the Albert Lea case, the Montevideo allegations involve only one aide. In Albert Lea, two female aides were charged with physical and sexual abuse and assault of seven residents, and four others were charged as juveniles for not reporting maltreatment.
But as in Albert Lea, the alleged abuse in Montevideo went on for months and was witnessed by another aide who didn't report it to supervisors until July. Five of the six victims have dementia.
According to the Health Department report: The Montevideo aide stuck her finger in the cancerous vulva of a resident until she screamed, dropped another resident on her bed from 4 feet and laughed, and tossed on the floor stuffed toys that a third resident thought were her children. The report also says she gave lap dances to two male residents and bared her breasts to at least one of them.
The woman with cancer died in April, before the home learned of the abuse, the report said.
In another instance, the report said, the aide struck a woman resident in the face after the woman called the aide an offensive name. The resident's medical records noted that she had been "verbally and physically abusive to staff."
The aide was suspended on the day her fellow aide reported the abuse and was fired two weeks later, the report said.
The report did not address sanctions against the aide who had witnessed the alleged abuse but delayed reporting it.
Minnesota's vulnerable- adult law requires aides to report suspected maltreatment to the nursing home where they work. Aides must be educated by the home about that requirement when they are hired and annually after that.
"We typically expect the home to address the issue and reeducate an aide about the requirement to report," said Darcy Miner, who heads health facility inspections at the Health Department.
An aide who has mistreated a nursing home resident can be barred from working in nursing homes but could work in a home care agency, she said.
Criminal charges unlikely
Chippewa County Attorney Dwayne Knutson said Wednesday that he "probably will not go forward" with charges against the aide. He said all but one of the victims has dementia, and a man who could talk about the abuse "was embarrassed and didn't want to talk with police."
"In Albert Lea they had people who admitted the abuse,'' Knutson said, "but this woman vehemently denies it, so without something stronger, we probably will not proceed."
In the Albert Lea case involving Good Samaritan nursing home, Health Department investigators concluded that four aides had verbally, physically and emotionally abused 15 residents with dementia.
Although the Albert Lea case has generated an uproar, Miner said complaints of abuse in nursing homes are unusual, and cases involving multiple victims or abusers are rare.
Last year the Health Department substantiated 68 cases of maltreatment in Minnesota nursing homes, she said. More typical cases involve workers who yell at residents, or shake or strike a resident, sometimes in frustration over difficulty in caring for someone who is confused or combative, she said.
The department's Office of Health Facility Complaints, which conducted the Montevideo investigation, found that the home's managers followed proper procedures when they learned of the abuse. The home is connected to Chippewa County-Montevideo Hospital and Medical Clinic.
Administrator James Flaherty was away from the home Wednesday and no one else there was authorized to talk about the case, officials there said. ..News Source.. by WARREN WOLFE, Star Tribune
December 4, 2008
2 teen girls charged in nursing resident abuse
Video here. There is other important information in the video, an interview with Wes Bledsoe, founder and president of A Perfect Cause, a watchdog group for nursing homes. Mr. Bledsoe has claimed (in his prior reports) this conduct is caused by residents who were registered sex offenders, but that is not the case here. However, these girls may become RSOs as the result of their conduct..
See also: Father defends teen charged in nursing home abuse case
12-4-2008 Minnesota:
They allegedly taunted, spat on, groped residents with dementia disorders
ALBERT LEA, Minn. - Two teenage girls who worked at a nursing home have been charged with abuse, accused of taunting, spitting on and groping the breasts and genitals of residents who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and other dementia disorders.
According to the criminal complaint, filed Monday, 19-year-old Brianna Broitzman and 18-year-old Ashton Larson laughed earlier this year as they spat in residents' mouths, poked and grabbed them, and at times mocked them until they screamed.
Broitzman and Larson, who worked as part-time aides at the home, have been charged as adults.
No one answered the phone Thursday morning at Broitzman's home. There was no information in court records on attorneys for either teen.
Complaint: Eight teens involved
Four other teens who worked with them at the Good Samaritan Society were charged as juveniles for failing to report the incidents.
A total of eight teens were allegedly involved in the incidents, but there was no record of criminal charges being filed against two of them.
Broitzman and Larson are charged with assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct and failing to report suspected maltreatment. All are gross misdemeanors.
If found guilty, Broitzman and Larson "most likely will face suspended jail sentences and probation, so they'd have the threat of jail hanging over them if they get in more trouble," Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.
The Minnesota Department of Health released a report in August showing that 15 residents with Alzheimer's disease or other dementia disorders were abused at the facility between Jan. 1 and May 1.
Group allegedly laughed about incidents
According to the complaint filed Monday, one of the aides said the group gathered at work or school to "talk and laugh about the incidents."
Mark Anderson, administrator at the Good Samaritan Society in Albert Lea, told WCCO-TV that the past few months have been difficult for the staff, the home's residents and their families.
"We are just really thankful that the proceedings are moving forward and hopefully can see some closure to this whole process," Anderson said. ..News Source.. by MSNBNC
