Abuse of Nursing Home Residents Leads to Criminal Charges for Teen Workers
Six teenagers working at a Minnesota nursing home face criminal charges for abusing nursing home residents over a period of several months earlier this year. The criminal complaint indicates that they harassed, assaulted, groped and even spit in the mouths of residents suffering from conditions like Alzheimers and dementia. These despicable acts beg the question of how supervisors at the nursing home were so negligent that they did not know this was occurring with their teenage employees.
Two of the teens were charged as adults (Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson) and the other four were charged as juveniles for abuse of nursing home residents at the Good Samaritan Society of Alberta Lea. They were employed as part-time nursing assistants, and clearly they were not being adequately supervised.
The charges were filed following an investigation by local police which discovered that the teenagers, who all went to the same high school, were sexually and emotionally abusing the residents for at least four months between January 2008 and April 2008.
According to the Albert Lea Tribune:
Court papers state that during interviews Broitzman admitted that she and Larson had poked a resident in the breast. She also stated that numerous videos and photos had been taken of residents between January and April, according to the court papers.
During interviews, Larson admitted to actions such as spitting water on a resident, lying in bed with a resident, touching a resident on the buttocks, inserting her finger into a resident’s rectum, antagonizing a resident, humping a resident and putting her hand over a resident’s mouth because that resident would scream, court papers state.
Others interviewed said they began talking among themselves about what was taking place in the nursing home after Jan. 1, according to the papers. They stated Broitzman and Larson spanked a resident, teased a resident and poked residents in the genitals.
One stated Broitzman put her bare rear end in one resident’s face and that Larson would rub vigorously on residents’ genital areas to sexually arouse them.
The local reports do not give any indication about what, if any, actions have been taken against the nursing home for the abuse or against the nursing home administrators. From the accounts, it appears that the nursing home’s negligence is just as much to blame for allowing this to happen as the teens who committed these disgusting acts.
NURSING HOME ABUSE LAWYERS
The lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. represent families throughout the United States who are pursuing lawsuits for neglect or abuse in nursing homes. To review a potential case with one of our nursing home attorneys, request a free consultation and claim evaluation.
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