Martinsville adult group home owner found guilty of abuse
Richard Wagoner ran The Claye Corporation.
WDBJ Web Staff
May 7, 2012
A jury says the owner of an adult group home in Martinsville is guilty of
abuse.
Richard Wagoner ran The Claye Corporation. Investigators say in
February 2011, one of the residents, Joseph Tuggle, was forced under a faucet
with scalding hot water.
He was severely burned. Tuggle died 10 days later from sepsis and pneumonia, that resulted from his burns.
A jury recommended Wagoner serve five years in jail.
He'll be sentenced in October.
MARTINSVILLE (May 7, 2012)
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced today that Richard C.
Wagoner, Jr., was found guilty of abuse and neglect of an incapacitated adult
that resulted in death. A jury recommended that Wagoner be sentenced to five
years' incarceration. Wagoner will be officially sentenced on October 18,
2012.
Wagoner owned and operated The Claye Corporation, a group home for
adults in Martinsville. The victim, Joseph Tuggle, 57, was an
intellectually disabled adult suffering fromParkinson's disease, and received
care in a group home operated by The Claye Corporation.
On February 8, 2011, after Mr. Tuggle suffered an episode of
incontinence, direct care givers placed him in a bathtub while they cleaned the
affected area of the house. Mr. Tuggle was placed under a faucet running
scalding water and suffered second- and third-degree burns on his legs, face,
buttocks, and arm. Ten days later, Mr. Tuggle was found dead in his bed with
scabbed burns. The medical examiner determined that Tuggle died from sepsis and
pneumonia secondary to thermal injury. His death was ruled as a direct result
of the injuries he sustained on February 8, 2011.
According to court testimony, Mr. Tuggle's care givers failed to call
911 or the victim's physician, instead claiming to have called the local
hospital's emergency room. The care givers claimed to have received
instructions to treat the burns with First Aid ointment. However, hospital policy does not
allow personnel to give treatment information over the phone.
An investigation by the attorney general's Health Care Fraud and Elder
Abuse section revealed that, following the burn incident, Tuggle's care givers
had placed him in a van to transport him to the hospital. However, Wagoner
ordered the van to return to the group home. Wagoner then examined Mr. Tuggle's
injuries and decided to keep him at the group home instead of providing him
with emergency medical treatment.
"Not only did Wagoner fail to properly prevent conditions in which
an incapacitated and helpless patient could suffer from such abject neglect and
abuse, he also explicitly and deliberately deprived Mr. Tuggle of the care he
needed to survive these injuries," said Cuccinelli. "This kind
of gruesome irresponsibility and depravity is despicable, and it's my hope that
today's announcement will send a clear, stern message that this behavior simply
will not be tolerated in Virginia."
The case was investigated by the Martinsville Police Department and the
attorney general's Health Care Fraud and Elder Abuse Section. The Elder
Abuse section specializes in investigating allegations of abuse and neglect of incapacitated
adults, employing both nurse investigators and criminal investigators to assist
localities in determining the root cause of injuries and holding responsible
persons accountable for their crimes.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Kevin C.
Nunnally, and Chief Prosecutor David W. Tooker, also from the attorney
general's Health Care Fraud and Elder Abuse section. The Martinsville
commonwealth attorney's office provided guidance and assistance in the Wagoner
prosecution.
Copyright © 2012, WDBJ7-TV
SOURCE: WDBJ7
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