Caregivers Accused of Elder Abuse After Amador County Woman Found Malnourished, Dehydrated

BY CATHY LOCKE

AUGUST 20, 2015

Two people who described themselves as caregivers were arrested by Amador County sheriff's deputies after an elderly woman was found malnourished and dehydrated at a residence in Jackson Valley.

Shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday, the Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a resident in the 4600 block of Roadrunner Drive. The caller reported that an elderly woman at the residence was unresponsive. Ambulance and fire department personnel were dispatched to the home, and an 87-year-old woman was transported to Sutter Amador Hospital for treatment, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

When the woman arrived at the hospital, the emergency room staff requested that the Sheriff’s Office respond. Deputies found that the woman was malnourished, dehydrated, partially covered in dried fecal matter, and suffering from a number of infected subcutaneous ulcers.

Sheriff’s deputies went to the Roadrunner Drive residence and contacted Michael Larry Gumm, 49, and Sabrina Raquel Hernandez, 47, both of Jackson Valley, who claimed they were the woman’s caregivers. Sheriff’s officials said the two were evasive in their answers and attributed the woman’s condition to a recent sunburn.

Detectives conducted a follow-up investigation that included executing a search warrant at the residence, conducting additional interviews, and reviewing electronic documents and financial records.

Gumm and Hernandez subsequently were arrested and booked into Amador County Jail on suspicion of elder abuse.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article31701878.html#storylink=cpy

SOURCE:    The Sacramento Bee

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Anger at Failure to Ban Violent Nurse For Life (UK)

By BEN ENDLEY

Aug 21, 2015

Faderera Bello, 55, was a qualified “dementia champion” but was caught on CCTV poking patient Bridget Rees in the face and telling her to “shut up”.

The family of the widow caught the NHS care home nurse’s abuse on camera and she was jailed for four months after admitting ill treatment and wilful neglect.

But Mrs Rees’s family yesterday attacked a decision by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to suspend Bello, which would allow her to care for patients again within a year.

Granddaughter Donna Davis, 36, of Hackney, east London, said: “We are going to keep fighting this. There are thousands of people in the world able to be carers. This one does not need to be back. We want to safeguard other people.

“We feel betrayed. We were told that when she got a light sentence, which was a bit of a kick in the teeth, that she wouldn’t work again.”

Mrs Rees, herself a former NHS nurse, died of pneumonia aged 92 in May – a month before Bello, of Romford, east London, was jailed.

The frail and defenceless pensioner was living in the Mary Seacole Nursing Home, in Hoxton east London, when she suffered the abuse.

Her daughter Veronica Davis, 60, of Hackney, spotted bruising on her mother’s arms and set up a secret spy camera.

Bello, who qualified in Nigeria in 1981, was caught yelling “shut up” and “shut your mouth” repeatedly as she mishandled the pensioner on December 6, 2013.

She was arrested in February last year and jailed for four months at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council failed to strike her off at a meeting on August 7 and instead suspended her for a year.

A panel will later decide when to allow her to work again.

Bello, who moved to the UK in 2004, blamed stress and said she would deal with the situation better in the future.

SOURCE:     The Express

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Calgary Caregivers Convicted in Shocking Senior Abuse Case Caught on Video

July 21, 2015

The family of an elderly Calgary man who was abused by three caregivers believe the 92-year-old’s death was hastened by his assault, court heard Tuesday.

In a victim impact statement prepared by Ulrich (Uli) Wissner’s son, Peter Wissner said the family suffers the guilt of not making his final days more comfortable.

“Our family believes that Uli’s own life ended sooner as a result of the assault,” the son wrote, in the statement read in by Crown prosecutor Susan Kennedy.

“At the very least the assault resulted in ... the last month of his life being afraid, mostly alone, helpless and angry, instead of comfortable, safe and loved,” he wrote.

The younger Wissner said his father became reluctant to eat, take medications, or receive basic care following the assault on Feb. 7, 2014.

The elder Wissner died March 6, 2014, less than a month after he was attacked by caregivers Maria Dumo, Anjela Borja and May Casimero at the CareWest Garrison Green on Don Ethell Blvd. S.W.

The assault was captured on a surreptitiously placed video camera the son installed after his father repeatedly complained he was being hurt by his caregivers.

“Three individuals have been identified and terminated, but we cannot be certain these were the only ones mistreating Uli,” the son said.

He said the family can no longer take comfort with the belief the victim’s final days were comfortable.

Abridged
SOURCE:      The Calgary Sun

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Carer Tied Woman, 88, Up With Her Dressing Gown Cord

Carer tied woman, 88, up with her dressing gown cord so she could have cigarette break
Sussanah Carr tied up dementia sufferer because she did not want her wandering around care home while she was working
Carr starts 12-month supervision order tomorrow after being spared jail

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
17 November 2013

A care home assistant used a dressing gown cord to tie an  88-year-old woman with dementia to a chair while she went outside to smoke a cigarette.

A court was told that Sussanah Carr, 43, restrained the pensioner because she had been wandering around the care home.

She told a colleague what she had done and was reported to police, but denied it when interviewed by officers.

However, she later went back to the police station to admit her crime after being questioned by care home bosses at an internal inquiry.

When she was finally brought before a court, she pleaded guilty to a charge of ill-treating and wilfully neglecting a  person without capacity.

Carr was spared a jail sentence, however, when Judge Michael Addison gave her a 12-month supervision order.

When the offence came to light, she was dismissed from her job at Sutton Lodge, a Bupa care home in Weybridge, Surrey, where she had worked for about ten years.

Guildford Crown Court was told the victim had been repeatedly getting out of bed and walking around when Carr arrived during an overnight shift earlier this year.

Prosecutor Flora Page said the incident was over ‘in a matter of minutes’.

Miss Page added: ‘The victim had been wandering around . . . and Miss Carr  had been chasing after her and following her around. However, a time came when she sat her down in her chair and, using the cord of her dressing gown, tied it on  the chair.’

Summing up later, Judge Addison said a key detail was the fact that it was secured around her waist in such a way that the woman would have been able to untie herself. He told Carr, of Shepperton, Surrey: ‘You were in charge of looking after an old lady suffering from dementia.

‘She was sat in the chair and you put the dressing gown cord around her waist. It was tied in a bow. She could have undone it.

‘I sentence you on the basis that she was only tied to the chair for a number of minutes.

‘It is a serious matter to ill-treat someone who lacks mental capacity in a home, but it does seem that this offence is right at the bottom of the scale.’

Judge Addison said there was no evidence that the woman suffered any distress and he did not understand why the case had not been dealt with at an earlier hearing at North Surrey Magistrates’ Court in Staines.

Elaine Stapleton, defending, said Carr had lost her livelihood and record of previous good character because of one incident in many years of caring for people with dementia.

Miss Stapleton said: ‘She has a long history of caring for vulnerable people in that home. What happened means she has stopped taking her medication. She has had a number of difficulties with her health.’

In a statement after sentencing, Graham Brittain, of Bupa Care Services UK, said: ‘The behaviour of Sussanah Carr was clearly unacceptable.

‘We immediately suspended her and reported her to the appropriate authorities to ensure that vulnerable older people are protected. The court has now taken appropriate action.’

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Daughter Of Elder Abuse Victim Wins Case Against Carer

By Sam Strangeways
Oct 16, 2013

The adopted daughter of alleged elder abuse victim “Auntie Em” has won a six-year legal battle with her mother’s former carer.
Chief Justice Ian Kawaley ruled in the Supreme Court that Rosamund Hayward does not have to pay Yvonne Dawson $25,000 in unpaid fees, as she was ordered to do by a magistrate in 2010.
But Mr Justice Kawaley said Ms Hayward’s “apparent unwillingness to live up to her moral obligations” in relation to contributing to the cost of care for her mother was “on the face of it, not just unreasonable, but bordering on the outrageous, considering that she is seemingly entitled to inherit her mother’s home”.
He said it was difficult to see why Ms Hayward shouldn’t pay for her own costs in the long-running civil case, adding: “It is to be hoped that [Ms Dawson’s] legal advisers will have the ingenuity to find some means of achieving some measure of financial justice for her.”
The harrowing case of “Auntie Em” — whose real name was Wilhelmina Liburd — was revealed by The Royal Gazette in September 2007, when her nephew Stephen Woodley and Ms Dawson told of the terrible conditions she was found living in at the family home in Upland Street, Devonshire.
Ms Dawson described seeing cockroaches crawling across the senior’s skin and food, while environmental health officers declared the property unfit for human habitation due to clutter, dirt, roach and rodent infestation and droppings, unsanitary water, roof fungus and bed bugs.
The near-blind great-grandmother, who lived with Ms Hayward and other family members, moved temporarily into Ms Dawson’s home to be looked after.
She ultimately ended up at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, where part of one leg was amputated due to gangrene.
Mrs Liburd died in 2011, aged 98, at the hospital’s Continuing Care Unit and Ms Hayward has never faced any criminal charges in connection with the alleged mistreatment of her mother.
Ms Dawson launched legal proceedings in 2007 against Ms Hayward, the only child of Mrs Liburd and her late husband, to recover money she claimed she was owed for caring for the senior at weekends.
Mr Woodley, she said, hired her and paid for her weekday fees, with Ms Hayward agreeing to meet the costs of weekend care.
Magistrate Tyrone Chin provisionally ruled in May 2008 that there was a contract between the parties and, in December 2010, reaffirmed that decision, ordering Ms Hayward to pay $25,000, plus $70 costs.
Ms Hayward immediately appealed the decision but it took until last month for a judgement in the case, when Mr Justice Kawaley agreed with her lawyer Ray DeSilva’s argument that Mr Chin’s decision was “plainly flawed” because it had not been shown that a legally enforceable contract existed between the two women.
The magistrate referred to one payment of $280 for weekend services in October 2006 as evidence of Ms Hayward’s agreement to a contract.
That wasn’t sufficient, according to Mr Justice Kawaley, who wrote: “The learned magistrate did not support his finding that a contract existed by reference to any other specific aspect of the evidence adduced at trial in support of [Ms Dawson’s] case.
“Nor did he make any express findings on the issues which formed the basis of [Ms Hayward’s] submission of no case.”
He said the 2010 judgement simply reaffirmed the earlier ruling, adding: “It follows that if that ruling is not supportable, neither is his final judgement. The appeal is allowed on the ground that [Ms Dawson] failed to prove her case.”
The Chief Justice said it seemed obvious that Ms Hayward was “at a minimum, morally obliged to contribute to the costs of her mother’s care”.
The magistrate’s decision, he added, appeared both pragmatic and consistent with ordinary notions of justice, in that it would have meant Ms Dawson was paid for her “valuable services” and Ms Hayward, who was willing to receive the benefit of her mother’s property, would have to contribute to Mrs Liburd’s care.
But the judge agreed with Mr DeSilva that it did not meet with strict legal principles and should be set aside.
Mr Justice Kawaley said the case took too long to deal with and changes were needed to the law to ensure “more active case management” of civil matters by the Magistrates’ Court, with the help of counsel.
Neither Ms Hayward nor Ms Dawson could be reached for comment yesterday. Mr DeSilva told this newspaper he could not comment on the judgement until he had spoken to his client, as did Richard Horseman, lawyer for Ms Dawson.

SOURCE:       The Royal Gazette
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Coon Rapids Case Highlights Elder Abuse Issue

Article by: DAVID CHANEN , Star Tribune
October 14, 2013

Daughter is accused of intentional deprivation under a new state law after her 87-year-old mother lay ill for a month before she died.
For at least a month, police say, Dawn Kulbeik’s elderly mother lay in bed suffering from pneumonia, dehydration, malnutrition and bed sores that were bone deep. Two days before Kulbeik finally called 911 for help, the 87-year-old woman had lost consciousness and stopped communicating.
Doris Ferrian died a couple of weeks later last October, of natural causes. Law enforcement authorities and social service agencies have spent significant time since then reviewing the case, leading ultimately to felony and gross misdemeanor neglect charges filed Monday against Kulbeik.
The Anoka County case is one of the first charged under a Minnesota law passed last year making it a felony if a caregiver intentionally deprives a vulnerable adult of necessary food, clothing and medical care and knows it could result in substantially or great bodily harm. The action closed a gap that frustrated county attorneys when such cases would result in little or no jail time or minimal fines.
The Hennepin County attorney’s office, which pushed for the change at the Legislature, has yet to charge anybody with it.
“How does the system handle somebody responsible for the care of a parent, who fails to make good decisions and may not understand the full nature of the care that is necessary?” asked Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo.
Kulbeik, 54, is developmentally challenged, according to authorities.
She and other relatives couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.
The gross misdemeanor charge Kulbeik faces is of intentionally neglecting a vulnerable adult. The only contact police have had with her was the day she called 911.
Ferrian was unconscious with a rapid pulse and breathing when paramedics arrived at Kulbeik’s apartment in Coon Rapids on Oct. 8, 2012, according to the criminal complaint filed Monday. She was septic because of the advanced stages of the bed sores. A social worker who saw her at Unity Hospital in Fridley made a maltreatment report with Anoka County, the complaint said.
At the Coon Rapids apartment, Ferrian’s granddaughter, the granddaughter’s husband and their child slept in one bedroom. Kulbeik and Ferrian occupied the other bedroom.
Kulbeik told police she had been the primary caregiver for a year before her mother’s death.
A month before she called 911, Kulbeik noticed that her mother hadn’t been walking much and that her appetite had decreased, according to the criminal complaint.
She knew that there was a problem with Ferrian’s decline and that it was getting to be too much for her to handle, the document said.
Kulbeik was unable to explain to police why she didn’t seek medical attention for her mother’s bed sores, according to the papers.
When police searched the apartment, they found biological fluids on Ferrian’s bedding that had seeped into the mattress, through the box spring and onto the floor.
Charges weren’t filed for a year because neglect cases are often difficult to investigate and several agencies reviewed the case, said Palumbo. The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office didn’t forward its case to the county attorney until March.
Kulbeik has been charged by summons and hasn’t made an initial court appearance.
SAFE Elders initiative
In June, Palumbo helped launch a statewide initiative to confront elder abuse with an arsenal of resources to educate people about the problem.
With nearly $50,000 in donations, the organization Minnesota SAFE Elders created a tool kit that includes such things as a video and free training materials, an app for first responders, and a “prosecutor’s trial notebook,” a collection of abuse cases that attorneys can use as a reference when developing their own cases.
While the Kulbeik case wasn’t a result of the SAFE Elders initiative, it highlights the issues the group is trying to address in the community, said Palumbo.
“The injuries to the victim were extremely severe,” he said. “We are obviously holding the defendant accountable for her failure to provide aid.”

SOURCE:      The Star Tribune
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Suspect Defrauded Elderly Woman

September 7,
By Kristopher Anderson/News-Sentinel Staff Writer 

Lodi police arrested a 48-year-old woman on Thursday on suspicion of stealing more than $20,000 over the course of at least a year from an elderly woman, authorities said.
Lisa Serpico was taken into custody at her home on the 3300 block of Spiess Road in Acampo around 8:30 a.m. She will be arraigned on a felony charge of stealing more than $400 from an elderly or dependent adult in San Joaquin County Superior Court on Monday.
Lodi police detectives have been investigating the theft since June, after the victim’s daughter reported the incident to police, Lodi Police Sgt. Eric Versteeg said.
According to Versteeg, Serpico befriended a 90-year-old woman and offered her rides to the grocery store, doctor appointments and other locations. However, Serpico was never hired as a caregiver.
“She was helping with the day-to-day business,” Versteeg said.
For nearly a year, Lodi Police Lt. David Griffin said, Serpico used multiple tactics to withdraw funds from the victim’s account, including using ATM machines after obtaining the victim’s debit card to purchase groceries.
The victim’s daughter heard that someone had been assisting her mother on a regular basis. She became suspicious about Serpico’s relationship with her mother and began checking bank accounts and check statements, Versteeg said.
In August, nearly three weeks before her arrest, Serpico went with her attorney to the Lodi Police Department for a voluntary interview.
In Lodi, theft from elderly residents is a frequently reported crime.
“I don’t want to say we have a huge problem, but does happen on a regular basis,” Versteeg said.
Lodi police receive numerous complaints each year about caregivers or acquaintances taking advantage of elders with scams, theft or financial abuse.
It comes in several disguises, Versteeg said.
He cited a case in Lodi several years ago where police said individuals were purposely performing inexpensive and substandard work on an elderly person’s home. When the project was complete, they demanded excessive amounts of money for their work, officers said. The workers in that case eventually defrauded the elderly person out of thousands of dollars, Versteeg said.
Versteeg said there are ways for elderly people to avoid scams and fraud.
“Family and caregivers need to be cognizant of what’s going on,” he said. “They need to take an active role in that person’s care.”

SOURCE:        The Lodi News
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Florida's Neglected Elderly Deserve Better

Scott Maxwell
TAKING NAMES
September 7, 2013

Florida bills itself as a haven for retirees.
Come on down! Bring your pension! Leave your kids! Life is always pleasant in the Sunshine State!
Well, except when your rest-home assistant leaves you festering in your own waste.
Or without your medicine.
Or dead.
Stories like those were common a couple of years ago — everything from a 71-year-old man with schizophreniawho died from scalding water in a bathtub to a 75-year-old retired priest whose body was found ripped apart by alligators after he was allowed to wander off unsupervised.
With elderly residents dying nearly once a month from abuse and neglect, Florida politicians vowed to crack down.
I'm not sure it was the humanity they were worried about as much as the economy. A growing corpse count was bad for the retirement business.
Only the reform never really came. A task force yielded few concrete changes. And now, the state agency charged with checking on neglected elderly residents is a mess.
The head of the program abruptly retired. Another top official resigned. An internal investigation is underway.
"It's no better than it was before," said Brian Lee, the head of a national nonprofit, Families for Better Care. "We never got the reform. It was a charade."
If Lee sounds indignant, he has good reason. He used to run Florida's elderly watchdog program — for both Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist — until Gov. Rick Scott forced him out in early 2011.
At the time, Lee's army of volunteer ombudsmen — trained citizens who made both surprise and resident-requested visits to facilities — had a 98 percent satisfaction rating from the residents and families they served.
But Lee's dogged approach — particularly his efforts to highlight facilities that put profits over safety — made him unpopular with the industry.
So Scott ousted him — a move that investigators with the U.S. Administration on Aging said was meant "to stop Mr. Lee from carrying out his duties" — and replaced him with a more industry-friendly leader.
Then things got worse.
Legislators began talking about making it harder for the volunteer watchdogs to do their jobs, and they lowered the minimum number of hours of care that homes must provide.
Our mothers, fathers and grandparents deserve better.
Not because retirement is big business in Florida — but because it's simply the right thing to do.
I'm not sure everyone agrees. Recently, the state's ombudsman program sent out a blistering news release, saying all the negative press about the program was unfair to the hardworking volunteers.
It called the problems "imagined" and the concerns "misrepresentations."
Let's be clear. There's nothing imagined about the recent resignations, the ongoing investigation or the efforts to weaken safeguards.
And I've never doubted the commitment of the volunteers. It's the politicians and some of the bureaucrats who worry me.
Elderly residents — especially those who don't have family nearby to check on them regularly — deserve vigilant watchdogs with the power to protect them.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Scott said he agrees — that the governor "is committed to protecting Florida's elderly community and believes the ombudsman program provides important protections for those living in long-term care facilities."
If he truly believes that, he has an opportunity to prove it — by appointing a new, permanent lead ombudsman who won't cower to anyone, whose only interest is protecting vulnerable elderly citizens who can't protect themselves.
He could even make a pitch to bring Lee back. That would speak volumes about serious commitment.
Reputable facilities — which constitute the majority of Florida's homes — would have nothing to fear. They should welcome high standards, unannounced visits and vigilant watchdogs.
It's only the shoddy ones — where residents go unfed and unmedicated, where roaches have been spotted in pantries and where hair has gone unwashed for weeks — that would object.
And who in their right mind, or of pure heart, would ever cater to them?

SOURCE:        The Orlando Sentinel
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Elder Abuse Case restarts Because First Jury Couldn't Reach Verdict

 Aug. 30, 2013

The case against an ex-nursing home worker charged with felony elder abuse will restart after a two-day trial resulted in a hung jury.

Heather Lynn Laird, 36, was accused of pulling a 76-year-old woman’s hair, holding her down and forcing her to take a cup of pills at a Dell Rapids nursing home on Nov. 3. She was also accused of grabbing and pushing on the woman’s breast.

Her public defender told jurors that there was no solid proof the late-night encounter involved violence or that the bruising on the victim’s chest were the result of abuse, as opposed to a fall. The victim didn’t scream, and her roommate didn’t recall the encounter.
After deliberating six hours on Wednesday evening, jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict of guilt or acquittal.

Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Aaron McGowan said the case will restart, possibly resulting in a second jury trial.
Laird was charged with one count of abuse or neglect of an elderly adult. The charge carries a possible two-year prison sentence

SOURCE:         The Argus Leader

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Care Worker Arrested For Elder Abuse After Deceased Woman Found In Home

by Joseph Sumbi (Editor)
August 15, 2013
By Bay City News Service

Vallejo police arrested a health care provider Tuesday after the elderly woman she was caring for was found dead.

Ann Marie De la Houssaye, 37, of Vallejo, was arrested on suspicion of elder abuse and neglect and possession of a controlled substance, Lt. Sid DeJesus said.
Solano County Health and Social Services asked police to check on the welfare Tuesday of 78-year-old Rosie Dright at her home at 148 Florida St.
The Vallejo Fire Department also responded, and police found Dright's body in the home. She appeared to have been deceased for "a lengthy period of time," DeJesus said.
Health and Social Services officials identified De la Houssaye as Dright's care provider, DeJesus said.
She was booked in the Solano County jail.

The Solano County District Attorney's Office filed misdemeanor complaints Dec. 18 and June 13 against De la Houssaye, according to Solano County Superior Court records. She was scheduled to appear in court Oct. 7.

SOURCE:       The Benicia Patch
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Third Person Sentenced in Elder Abuse Case

By: WTAJ News
July 16, 2013

HOLLIDAYSBURG, BLAIR COUNTY

A Blair County woman who entered a guilty plea to neglect of a care-dependent person in March was sentenced to three years' probation Tuesday morning.

Majory Koch, 44, of Altoona was sentenced in Blair County Court of Common Pleas. Koch and two others were charged in September 2012 with neglecting an 80-year-old male resident of Warner's Home for the Aged.

In addition to probation, Koch must pay a $400 fine, additional costs, and is prohibited from working in a healthcare related field.

Koch's two co-defendants entered guilty pleas earlier this year and were sentenced to up to 24 months in the Blair County Prison.

SOURCE:        WeAreCentralPA
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Northwest Side Man Charged With Elder Abuse in Wisconsin

May 24, 2013

A Northwest Side man hired as a caregiver for an elderly, disabled man faces a felony abuse charge after police in Milton, Wis., found the disabled man in unclean conditions and suffering from suspicious injuries, police said.

Syren Bolderdene, 35, of the 4000 block of North St. Louis Avenue, was charged Thursday with felony abuse of an at-risk person in the village of about 5,000 people less than 10 miles northeast of Janesville, according to police and court records.

Bolderdene was held overnight in the Rock County Jail, but in a hearing this afternoon, Rock County Judge James P. Daley ordered he be allowed to sign a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, according to the the county court clerk’s office.

The victim, a 76-year-old Milton man, was being treated at Mercy Milton Medical Center in Milton, police said in a news release.

Bolderdene had called 911 about 11 a.m. Thursday to request help after the victim, a 76-year-old man, fell out of bed, and Bolderdene could not get him back up, according to a news release from Milton police. Police did not disclose the victim’s address.

Police found the victim had been left in a soiled diaper and bedclothes saturated with his own urine and feces. Investigators believe he had been left that way for at least 24 hours.

The victim had what police said were suspicious fractures, bruising and scratches.

Bolderdene’s next court date is June 18, according to the clerk’s office.

SOURCE:       The ChicagoTribune

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Millbrae Caretaker to Stand Trial on Assault, Elder Abuse Charges

KTVU.com and wires
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.
May 24, 2013

A caretaker accused of hitting an elderly Millbrae man on the head with his own walker, causing serious injuries, will stand trial on assault and elder abuse charges, according to San Mateo County prosecutors.
Jalome Sukulu Balekaba, 50, was ordered to stand trial Thursday after a preliminary hearing and will return to court on June 7 to set a trial date.
Balekaba was arrested on Dec. 19, 2011, after the 88-year-old man he was looking after was found bleeding heavily from a head wound while Balekaba slept in the next room, according to prosecutors.
Police had responded to the residence for a welfare check after the victim's nephew called to report that Balekaba sounded drunk over the phone.
The victim was taken to the hospital, where he became comatose and was treated for a stroke. He died about 10 weeks later.
Investigators determined that the victim was struck by his own walker, according to prosecutors.
Balekaba remains in custody in lieu of $200,000 bail.

SOURCE:        KTVU
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Secret Cameras Capture Nursing Home Abuse

Secret Cameras Capture Nursing Home Abuse
28 Dec, 2012

Alleged nursing home abuse in Pennsylvania has led to arrests and the official revocation of a nursing home’s license.
On Tuesday, December 11, police arrested the two alleged elder abusers, who are former employees of the Arbors at Buck Run, a nursing home in Feasterville, Penn., according to an article on the NBC10 Philadelphia news site.
Suspecting that elder abuse was ongoing, a patient’s daughter placed secret cameras in her mother’s room. The cameras recorded repeated abuse from October 16 to November 13, 2012. The arrested caregivers, both in their early 20s, were caught on film manhandling the patient. Additionally, one of them was “literally dancing in the face of a wheelchair bound victim,” said a detective in the Lower Southampton Police Department.
Soon after, police charged the employees with neglect of a care-dependent person, reckless endangerment, simple assault, and harassment. The employees’ lawyer denied any wrongdoing by his clients and claimed the surveillance video’s evidence was “a matter of interpretation.”
Nevertheless the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) has also charged the facility with “gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct,” and revoked its license. The management company for the Arbors stated it would appeal the DPW’s closing order and remain open for the next 30 days, according to the news story.
Nursing home abuse is a real crime. Nursing home abuse lawsuits can help victims of this crime get justice and financial compensation for their suffering. If you or a loved one has been a victim of this type of negligence or abuse, call Sokolove Law today

SOURCE:     CisionWire
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Nursing Home Carer Found Guilty of Abusing Frail OAP (UK)

Nursing home carer found guilty of abusing frail OAP
11 Dec 2012

JEAN WALES pulled the 85-year-old woman out of a chair and dragged her back to her room.
A CARER at a nursing home has been convicted of subjecting an 85-year-old woman to a catalogue of abuse.
Jean Wales, 60, pulled the frail resident out of a chair after shouting and swearing at her repeatedly.
She dragged her confused victim back to her room, yelling: “I’ve f****** had enough of you.”
Wales was found guilty at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court of ill-treating the woman at the town’s Graceland nursing home in December 2011.
The court heard Michelle Boyd, 39 – who was visiting another resident – saw Wales abusing the pensioner.
Ms Boyd said: “She pulled her out of her chair by the arm.”
Wales, of Kilmarnock, had claimed staff made up the allegations out of jealousy because she had applied for another job.
Sentence was deferred until next month.

SOURCE:         The Daily Record, UK
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Nurse Ordered to Trial for Felony Elder Abuse (CA. USA)

Nurse ordered to trial for felony elder abuse
The Associated Press
Nov. 28, 2012
PLACERVILLE, Calif.

The former head nurse at a California nursing home is facing trial for felony elderly abuse in the death of an Alzheimer's patient.
Investigators say 77-year-old Johnnie Esco was supposed to be constantly monitored by nurses at Placerville's El Dorado Care Center. But she died of fecal impaction in 2008 after 13 days in the nursing home.
The Sacramento Bee ( http://sacb.ee/TsuGI8) says a judge on Tuesday ordered trial for 58-year-old registered nurse Donna Darlene Palmer.
Prosecutors say neglect led to Esco's painful and unnecessary death.
Palmer was one of two nurses charged in the woman's death.
Prosecutors say 39-year-old Rebecca Smith agreed to plead no contest to felony elder abuse in exchange for a possible suspended jail sentence and her willingness to help prosecutors in the Palmer case.

SOURCE:      SACBEE
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Three Rivers Care Taker Held on Suspicion of Abuse of 88-Year-Old Woman

Three Rivers care taker held on suspicion of abuse, assault charges
Nov 19, 2012
Written by Staff report

A Three Rivers woman police said was in charge of caring for an 88-year-old woman was taken into custody Sunday on suspicion of assaulting the elderly woman.
Judy Dovel, whose age wasn’t provided, arrested in suspicion of elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon and causing great bodily injury. Her bail was set was $100,000.
According to the sheriff’s department, deputies responded to a home in the 42300 block of South Fork Drive for reports of elder abuse.

While investigating the report, deputies learned the woman was taken to a hospital, where she was treated for dislocated fingers and swelling to the brain.
Dovel was located, arrested and booked into the Bob Wiley Detention Facility.
The elderly woman’s name was withheld because she’s violent crime victim.
The incident was reported at 9:20 a.m. Sunday.

 SOURCE:    Visalia Times Delta
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Caretaker Arrested in Three Rivers Elder Abuse

 Caretaker arrested in Three Rivers elder abuse
By Jacob Rayburn - The Fresno Bee
Nov. 18, 2012

An 88-year-old woman from Three Rivers was taken to a local hospital Sunday with injuries from abuse, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department said.
Deputies were called to a residence at 9:20 a.m. in the 42300 block of South Fork Drive about possible elder abuse. It was later determined at the hospital that the woman had several dislocated fingers and swelling to the brain.
The sheriff's department said the caretaker, a 66-year-old woman, has been arrested and booked into the Tulare County Bob Wiley Detention Facility.
Anyone with information about this case can contact the Tulare County Detective Bureau at (559) 733-6218, e-mail TCSO@tipnow.com or text @ (559) 725-4194.

 SOURCE:        The FresnoBee
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Nurse Sex Video Prompts Elder Abuse Suit (San Diego)

Nurse sex video prompts elder abuse suit
November 06, 2012
 Pauline Repard

SAN DIEGO

Two male registered nurses in San Diego are under investigation after graphic videos showed them apparently engaging in sex acts with a 98-year-old bedridden stroke patient and each other, state officials said Tuesday.
“It appears to show very egregious behavior,” said Russ Heimerich, spokesman for the state Department of Consumer Affairs, which launched an investigation last year. “I don’t know if we’ve ever had a case that has a video like this. We are working to shut them down.”
The District Attorney’s Office is considering criminal charges against Russel O. Torralba and Alfredo V. Ruiz, and their nursing licenses have been suspended pending an administrative hearing next week, authorities said.
In one of several videos, two men in blue nurses’ scrubs can be seen in the female patient’s bedroom fondling each other while one touches her hand. One man then appears to fondle himself over her hand as he leans over and kisses her face.
The patient had paid caregivers for years, but after suffering a stroke and right-side paralysis in 2005, she hired skilled nurses at her home, said attorney William M. Berman, who has been hired by the woman’s family.
Berman said the woman’s daughter went through AMS Home Care Solutions in February 2011 to hire two 12-hour shift registered nurses at a rate of $1,300 a day. The daughter began to suspect that her mother was not being cared for properly, but complaints to the company went nowhere, Berman said.
About two weeks later, family members viewed video from security cameras that had been installed in the woman’s home years earlier, Berman said.
“What they saw was horrific,” said Berman, who specializes in elder abuse lawsuits. “These acts are unfathomable.”
He said videos show the men sexually gratifying one another and touching the woman, even putting her hand inside the pants of one of the men.
The daughter hired Berman to sue AMS, Ruiz and Torralba for alleged fraud, elder abuse and negligent supervision. The suit was filed in June in San Diego Superior Court and is set for trial Jan. 14, Berman said.
“It’s not about the money, it’s about dignity and accountability, to ensure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Berman said.
The woman, who is now 99 years old, is aware of herself and her surroundings but is unable to call out for help, Berman said.
Attorneys for AMS, Ruiz and Torralba could not be reached by phone Tuesday afternoon.
The family filed a complaint with state Consumer Affairs in April 2011. The agency sent the case to county prosecutors in July of this year, and it is still under review, district attorney spokesman Steve Walker said Tuesday.
State spokesman Heimerich said an administrative law judge ordered an interim suspension of Ruiz’s and Torralba’s nursing licenses on Oct. 24. Under terms of the suspension, they may still work as nurses in a hospital setting, but not together, and not in private homes or facilities.
A hearing on permanent suspension of their licenses is set for Nov. 14, Heimerich said.

SOURCE:       The NC Times
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Abuse Cases Highlight Home Caregiver Perils

ABUSE CASES HIGHLIGHT HOME CAREGIVER PERILS
Families and advocates say oversight is lacking for independent agencies
Written by Kristina Davis
Sept. 24, 2012

A World War II veteran neglected and living in squalor in his East County home.
An elderly Rancho Bernardo man slain after being scammed out of a half-million dollars.
A blind couple suffering from dementia duped into signing over their Cardiff house.
In each case, in-home caregivers have been charged criminally for the abuse.

And now, two caregivers have been charged with punching, kicking and shoving a young autistic man hundreds of times at his family’s home in Valley Center.
Law enforcement and health care advocates in San Diego County say such cases underscore the lack of regulations for home caregivers who are tasked with watching over one of society’s most vulnerable populations.
“We have victims who can’t advocate for themselves,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Varnau of the department’s elder abuse unit. “These people are prisoners in their own homes. There is no way to summon aid, no ability to pick up the phone, sometimes they are medicated or overmedicated and confined to beds.”
Such was the case with 23-year-old Jamey Oakley, the severely autistic, nonverbal victim who had no way to communicate the alleged abuse he was suffering when left alone with two of his caregivers.
Michael Dale Garritson, 61, and Matthew Alexander McDuffie, 27, were charged with abuse Wednesday after secret video recordings made in July and August showed hundreds of incidents over a three-week period, authorities said.
Both pleaded not guilty in Vista Superior Court Friday.
The case illustrates many of the frustrations and potential dangers families face when opening their homes to caregivers.

While day-care centers and nursing homes are regulated by the state and are required to run background checks on employees, no law requires oversight of independent caregiver agencies.
Many agencies claim to run background checks, but often the reviews aren’t extensive, according to a 2011 report by the state Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes. In other cases, agencies still approved caregivers with criminal convictions, the report found.
Investigators and advocates who deal with the elderly and disabled say that’s why it’s so important for families to do their own homework on caregivers — and recommended going as far as hiring a private investigator.
“If your loved one will be alone with an individual, you really have to make sure they’re protected,” said Ellen Schmeding, assistant deputy director of the county’s Aging and Independence Services.
In the case of Garritson and McDuffie, both came up as having no criminal records when U-T San Diego ran their names using a basic background check service.
But a quick Google search of Garritson brought up news reports about how he was charged, then eventually acquitted, of second-degree murder in a baby’s 1979 death in Orange County, as well as how he was convicted of misdemeanor animal cruelty decades later in San Diego County.

 SOURCE:      UTSanDiego

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