Dec 11, 2008 10:47 pm US/Central
Nursing Home Hit Hard By Abuse Allegations
ALBERT LEA, Minn. (AP) ―
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Prosecutors in Freeborn County have filed a range of criminal charges against six teens accused of abusing vulnerable residents at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea.
CBS
When an elderly woman with dementia drooled while under the care of two teenage nursing home assistants, one of the young women allegedly spit into her mouth. When residents screamed or hit, the two would clamp a hand over their mouths or poke them in the back or genitals.
At one point, one of the assistants crawled into bed with a Good Samaritan Society resident and simulated having sex with her, according to a criminal complaint.
The young women thought of their actions "as a joke," a co-worker told investigators from the state Department of Health, which produced a report detailing the abuse in numbing detail.
But Brianna Marie Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Michelle Larson, 18, each face up to a year in jail and $3,000 fine if convicted of all the charges against them. Prosecutors say the two inflicted humiliating physical, emotional and sexual abuse on 15 residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease, dementia or both.
"I've been in the business for 30 years. I have never seen anything like what we're dealing with here," said Renae Peterson, the nursing supervisor at Good Samaritan. "Why would anybody do this? I don't know."
Four other teenage girls who worked as aides have been charged in juvenile court with failing to report the abuse.
Broitzman, who faces 11 charges, and Larson, who faces 10, are to be arraigned in Freeborn County District Court on Jan. 21. The charges include 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.
Broitzman's attorney, Larry Maus, said Thursday that neither he nor the Broitzman family would comment.
Larson apparently has not hired an attorney, prosecutors said. Neither she nor her family responded to repeated attempts for comment. Her father, Michael Larson, told NBC's "Today" show last week that the allegations against his daughter have been distorted by the media.
The abuse allegedly went on for several months in early 2008, until one teenage nursing assistant told a nursing home administrator about it during an exit interview, prosecutors allege. Follow-up interviews by state investigators and local police found that Broitzman and Larson "would talk and laugh about the incidents" with others, including young co-workers who sometimes witnessed incidents.
Prosecutors say Broitzman and Larson considered the abuse "something fun to do at work." The two were confident they wouldn't get caught because "residents did not have their minds," a co-worker told investigators.
"The whole situation is appalling, it's disgusting, it's sick," said Gay Monson, a 64-year-old retiree who's had several family members stay at the nursing home, including his mother, who lives there now but was not among the alleged abuse victims. "But the thing you have to realize -- and it's sad to have to say -- but this could have happened anywhere."
Indeed, Good Samaritan has been singled out by state and national nursing home trade groups for the quality of care it provides, and its response to the scandal has been praised by state health officials and law enforcement. Good Samaritan administrator Mark Anderson said most residents' family members have supported the home and its response. Monson said he wasn't going to remove his mother.
State health officials say nursing home abuse is rare. But just this week, they reported another case of alleged abuse by a nurse's aide at a home in Montevideo. That aide was accused of tormenting six residents sexually, physically and emotionally for months before being caught in July. The worker, who was fired, has denied wrongdoing. Authorities say charges are unlikely because the victims' dementia limits their ability to testify.
Minnesota law allows anyone over age 16 to obtain work as a nursing assistant at rest homes. The bulk of the work involves helping residents tend to basic needs including grooming and bathing. Good Samaritan administrators said they try to identify young recruits they think would be suited to careers in health care, but said they only encourage people to stay in the jobs if they like the work.
"It's one of the first things I say to new people when they come in for the orientation: This work is not for everybody," said Peterson, the nursing supervisor. "And if you find it's not something you're enjoying, then you must not hesitate to say so."
In Albert Lea, a town of about 20,000 residents, people were wary about speaking openly about the alleged abuse at Good Samaritan, one of the town's largest employers, with 240 workers.
"I wish I could comment but I can't," said a worker at a fast food shop who, like many others, refused to give her name, explaining that she knows several of the young women involved.
On Thursday evening, an Oklahoma City-based nursing home activist held a town hall meeting on the issue; it drew about 50 people on a freezing-cold night. Several expressed sorrow over the situation, including Jan Reshatar, the daughter-in-law of one of the alleged victims.
"This should be the last thing we have to worry about," she said. But Reshatar said the family had decided to keep her mother-in-law at Good Samaritan, and she said most of the staff there are "excellent."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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