Disability agencies push back against Department of Justice memo

By Ben Singson

Disability agencies are frightened and angered by a federal memo they say rolls back protections for disabled residents.

The Department of Justice issued a memo Thursday arguing states are not required to provide in-home or community care for their disabled residents. The memo, a legal opinion from the department's Office of Legal Counsel, goes back on what many legal scholars had considered settled.

In the memo, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lanora Pettit argued states are not subject to an "integration mandate" making them provide non-institutional care. Pettit's memo questioned the results of the 1999 Supreme Court case Olmstead v. L.C., which had been interpreted for years to mean states are required to provide programs that integrate people with disabilities into their communities.

Pettit argued the case "held only that a state cannot institutionalize such patients without justification."

"What counts as adequate justification remains an open question," she said.

West-central Illinois disability agencies see the memo as a frightening move on the part of the federal government.

Brooklyn Knapp, executive director of Jacksonville Area Center for Independent Living, said the memo was unsurprising but still "disheartening" to hear from the government.

The center at 15 Permac Road provides a variety of services for hundreds of clients, Knapp said, including Social Security benefit access, personal assistants, accommodations for students, and support groups, among other things. Losing those programs would be "devastating" for JACIL clients, many of whom no longer would be able to live in their own homes if the programs went away, she said.

"All of these disability services feel like they're at threat with what's going on, so it's scary," Knapp said.

Ryan Dowd, executive director of Pathway Services Unlimited, mirrored Knapp's sentiments, saying it is a "concerning" position for the federal government to take. The nonprofit at 1905 W. Morton Ave. provides services to about 120 clients, 65 of whom live in group home settings, Dowd said.

Pathway's group homes are aimed at providing clients an unrestrictive setting in which to live, Dowd said. State-run institutions would provide the exact opposite environment, putting them in "a community prison," and should only be used as a last resort, he said. Should disabled people begin to be returned to institutions, Pathway and similar organizations would have to close, he said.

"I read a comment that this memo, should it come to light, would set us back 50 years in terms of advances made for people with disabilities," Dowd said. "I tend to agree with that."

Pushback from other disability advocacy groups was swift and critical. American Association for People with Disabilities said Thursday that the department's interpretation of Olmstead is incorrect but still will be used "to hurt disabled people, lock us away, end our autonomy over our lives and, in many cases, end our lives altogether."

"The (Department of Justice) just gave the White House and other federal entities a green light to take disabled people back to a time when the state could, at any time, strip us of our homes, families, autonomy and our lives," the association said.

Gov. JB Pritzker's administration has taken steps to keep Illinois' disability programs up and running.

The day before the Department of Justice issued its memo, Pritzker signed into law the creation of the Illinois Department of Disability Advocacy and Guardianship. The department, which will begin operating on July 1, 2027, aims to protect the rights of the state's disabled residents by providing legal counsel and serving as a guardian of last resort, among other things.

"By establishing the Department of Disability Advocacy and Guardianship, we are making it crystal clear that disability rights are a priority in Illinois," Pritzker said. "I am proud to establish this agency, and I will continue to fight hard to empower people with disabilities and their families all across our state."

Neither Knapp nor Dowd are concerned about Illinois recalling its disability programs, they said. Both cited the Pritzker administration in their reasoning, with Dowd saying the current state government, the Jacksonville area and Illinois as a whole have been friendly toward disabled residents. There also are "checks and balances" in place to prevent those programs from going away, he said.

"I'm not terribly worried that this will come to fruition," Dowd said.

Knapp said she has faith in Pritzker's administration to maintain Illinois' current services for disabled people and she is more worried about such programs being rescinded at the federal level.

"We have a governor that believes in providing these services to his constituents," she said. "That's been my saving grace right now." 

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Disability agencies push back against Department of Justice memo 

Elderly abuse cases rising in nursing homes

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Elderly abuse cases rising in nursing homes 

Rep. Greene supports guardianship reform package to protect vulnerable Michiganders from abuse, exploitation, and neglect

State Rep. Jaime Greene today voted to strengthen oversight, licensing, training, and accountability for professional guardians and conservators in Michigan.  

“When the court gives one person authority over another person’s life, that power must come with accountability,” said Greene (R-Richmond). “A guardian or conservator can make decisions about where someone lives, what medical care they receive, how their money is handled, and whether they are able to maintain basic personal independence. That is too much power to hand over without clear standards, proper vetting, and real oversight.” 

The bill package, made up of House Bills 4727, 4728, 4729, and 4959, creates a licensing structure for professional guardians and conservators, requires background checks, establishes education and continuing training requirements, requires professional liability insurance, and creates a public list of licensed professional guardians and conservators. It also makes clear that courts should look first to family members, trusted nominees, patient advocates, or other suitable individuals before appointing a professional guardian or conservator.  

“This is not about attacking families who step up to care for loved ones,” Greene said. “This is about making sure that people who serve as professional guardians and conservators meet a basic standard of trust, training, and transparency.”  

Across Michigan, vulnerable adults have been financially exploited by people entrusted with their care. In Mason County, a Scottville woman was convicted on multiple counts of embezzlement from vulnerable adults and caregiver commingling of funds after taking advantage of individuals who depended on her. Cases like this demonstrate why Michigan must be serious about protecting people who may not be able to protect themselves. 

The Michigan Attorney General’s Elder Abuse Task Force has also identified long standing concerns in the guardianship system, including inconsistent practices across the state, limited safeguards, unnecessary or overly restrictive guardianships, and lack of accountability when individuals lose control over major life decisions. Disability Rights Michigan has reported receiving thousands of calls from people with disabilities seeking help, including individuals reporting abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation by guardians. 

“Some of the people impacted by guardianship are seniors with dementia,” Greene said. “Some are adults with developmental disabilities. Some are people recovering from illness or injury. Some are simply in the middle. They are not fully independent, but they are not helpless either. Those are exactly the people who can be overlooked by the system. These bills say their dignity still matters. Their property still matters. Their voices still matter. Their safety still matters.”

 Greene said she will continue working to ensure the legislation protects vulnerable people while also making sure courts, especially in rural communities, have access to qualified guardians when no family member or trusted individual is available.  

“We need to raise the standard without creating a shortage of good people willing to serve,” Greene said. “The goal is simple: remove bad actors, protect vulnerable people, and make sure those who truly need help can still receive it.”

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Rep. Greene supports guardianship reform package to protect vulnerable Michiganders from abuse, exploitation, and neglect

Osceola couple denied bond in alleged elder abuse case

By Amy Diaz

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — An Osceola County couple accused of operating multiple unlicensed assisted living facilities appeared before a judge Thursday, where both were ordered held without bond.

Ronald Pack, 60, and Marie Carenan, 56, face charges including scheme to defraud, aggravated elder abuse, and elder neglect.

According to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, the arrests followed a multi-agency investigation into several facilities in Osceola and Polk counties. Authorities said they shut down three locations in Osceola County, while the Polk County Sheriff’s Office closed three additional homes.

Investigators said they received more than 300 calls for service at the Osceola County facilities since the beginning of 2024. The investigation also uncovered repeated complaints to the Florida Department of Children and Families alleging physical, sexual and psychological abuse, as well as fraud involving public assistance benefits.

The arrest affidavit alleges investigators found padlocked doors, locked refrigerators, and unqualified staff administering medication. At one home on Gillingham Court, investigators said they found deteriorating conditions, including ceiling leaks, and a bedridden patient being cared for without the required licensing.

Channel 9 was at that home as investigators executed a search warrant and watched as nine patients were removed. The sheriff’s office said a total of 38 patients were transported from the three Osceola County homes. DCF has not said where the patients were taken.

The affidavit also details a March 13, 2025, call from a resident at one of the facilities reporting that patients were being left on the floor for hours. A responding deputy found one elderly woman yelling in pain and another lying on the floor under a blanket. The second woman told deputies she had fallen the previous day and had been left on the floor for hours, according to the report.

Both suspects are expected in court again on June 29 for a pre-trial hearing.

The investigation remains ongoing. 

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Osceola couple denied bond in alleged elder abuse case 

Zavein Blue Wright, free on mental health diversion for violent assault of elder, has attacked another elder

With over a dozen arrests, the violent repeat offender recently struck a 93-year-old woman in the head.  

by Susan Dyer Reynolds

On May 24, 2026, at 8:30 a.m., a 93-year-old woman was walking her little dog, Princess, on Cayuga Avenue in San Francisco’s Mission Terrace neighborhood when she felt something hit her incredibly hard on the back of the head. Her fall was broken by a parked car, but when she looked up, she saw a large Black man walking away. The woman’s daughter, Janet Avila, says had her mother not fallen on the car, her head would have hit the concrete pavement. “A neighbor called 911 and an ambulance took her to San Francisco General Hospital,” Avila says. “She has a fractured clavicle, stitches on her knee, and a bump on her head. If that car didn’t break her fall, it would have been much worse.”

Avila, who works for the City and County of San Francisco’s behavioral health department, thought it was a random attack, and that she may never know who harmed her elderly mother. Then one day Avila’s cousin was watching her mom and saw a man walking by who fit the description both her mother and a neighbor had described. Avila’s cousin took a video and sent it to the neighbor, who confirmed it was the same man. Another neighbor also recognized the man as someone who lived nearby at 252 Tingley Street. Avila sent the video and the address to the police sergeant on the case. “He said, ‘O.K., but we can’t go in the house. If you see him on the street, call us.’ So, I waited three hours in my car until he came out of the house. I called 911, gave them the case number, and said I was following him. The dispatcher told me to put my emergency flashers on, and the police came and picked him up.”

On May 28, the attacker, 32-year-old Zavein Blue Wright, was arrested and charged with battery with serious bodily injury, elder abuse, and grand theft. Avila’s mother received a subpoena in the mail for a court hearing on June 10, but when Avila called her mother’s victim advocate, Clara Nowinski, at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, she was told there was no need for her mother to come to court because they would be “determining Wright’s competency.” Avila found all of this unsettling. “Is he going to be released near my mom again?” she asked rhetorically. “I know he’s not going to do hard time. I work in mental health here and this is never going to change.”

When she searched the Internet for the unusual name of her mother’s attacker, Avila was even more alarmed. “Your article in the Voice of San Francisco came up, and I couldn’t believe what I read.”

Wright out on mental health diversion for another elder attack

On Oct. 5, 2023, at approximately 7:45 a.m., 80-year-old Ken Majer was walking his little dog, Daisy, at the corner of Baker and Bay streets across from the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco’s Marina District when he was confronted by a large black male. Ken, who is the husband of my longtime editor for the Marina Times and now for The Voice of San Francisco, Lynette Majer, told me that he didn’t know the person and only saw his face briefly before the man forcefully knocked him to the ground and his head hit the sidewalk. Officers from the San Francisco Police Department and an ambulance soon arrived, and Ken was taken to the emergency room at Saint Francis Hospital. He received a CAT scan to determine his injuries, and he required 17 staples to close the wound in his head.

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Wright of elder abuse, battery with serious injury, criminal threats, and assault with bodily injury. At an arraignment held Nov. 6, 2023, Wright pleaded not guilty to three of the counts. The fourth count, criminal threats, was dropped. Wright was ordered held without bail at County Jail No. 3 in San Bruno. At a court appearance in December, there was a plea of mental incompetency.

On June 26, 2024, I attended a hearing for Wright at 850 Bryant in Department 15, which is San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court. According to their website, the Court’s mission is to “enhance public safety and reduce recidivism of criminal defendants who suffer from serious mental illness by connecting these defendants with community treatment services, and to find appropriate dispositions to the criminal charges by considering the defendant’s mental illness and the seriousness of the offense.” The presiding judge, Charles Crompton, is known among critics for his leniency. Like the majority of defendants in Behavioral Health Court, Wright’s appearance was waived. After a brief conversation and a glance at a May 2024 report, Wright was judged incompetent to stand trial. The public defender wanted him released. The district attorney did not. The judge pointed out that he was admitted to the Department of State Hospitals on April 4, 2024. “He is already placed and he’s doing fine where he is,” Crompton said, and closed the file. “Next case …”

In January 2025, Oscar Gonzalez, a victim advocate for elder abuse in the Victim Services Division of the District Attorney’s Office, updated Ken on the latest decision by Judge Crompton, and it wasn’t good news: “There is no disposition in this case, rather a Mental Health Ruling. Criminal proceedings have been suspended, not terminated,” Gonzalez wrote in an email. “As for the residential treatment program, I will continue to monitor the case. Next court date is scheduled for 2/19/25 for status of placement. I will update you after the hearing.” 

Judge Harry Jacobs was sitting in for Crompton at the Feb. 19 hearing. Wright was in the courtroom and Ken appeared on Zoom. When asked if he wanted to make a statement, Ken pointed to Wright’s long, violent record, making him a clear danger to the community. The public defender recommended 90 days at Baker Street House, a residential treatment facility “dedicated to providing comprehensive mental health and substance use disorder treatment services.” 

Ticking time bomb with a long, violent history

Public records list an address for Wright in Bakersfield, Calif., from Oct. 6, 2020, to Jan 31, 2024, but he was a fixture in the Marina for most of that time, where he was well known by residents for his erratic and threatening behavior and for following young females. One person described seeing Wright trap two young girls in the doorway of a building, refusing to let them go until she shouted at him and called police. Between 2019 and 2023, Wright was arrested in San Francisco 11 times for crimes including kidnapping, peeking and prowling while loitering on private property, attempted burglary, grand theft, vandalism over $5,000, assault, trespassing, contempt of court, disorderly conduct, false imprisonment by violence, unauthorized entry of a dwelling, and threats of violence. Wright was also arrested for assault with any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury on May 23, 2018, in Marin County, and four times for that same offense in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2020, Nov. 8, 2020, Oct. 23, 2022, and Aug. 9, 2023. He was also arrested four times in San Francisco for false imprisonment by violence, on Oct. 14, 2020, Nov. 8, 2020, Sept. 9, 2020, and Oct. 23, 2022.

When I informed Lynette that Ken’s attacker had assaulted another elder in a nearly identical manner, she was shocked. She also said the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office had not notified Ken about the latest case. Ken remains fearful of Wright, a ticking time bomb who clearly has more rights than the people he has injured both physically and psychologically. 

When I asked Avila how her mother was doing, she said she is healing physically but she hasn’t come out of the house. “The PTSD is my worry — walking is her thing and she walks two to three hours a day. I fear she won’t do that again. It takes away her independence, and she is fiercely independent. When I first started taking Princess on her walks, she was barking when we went by the area, which I’ve never seen her do, so she’s traumatized as well.”

Wright is being held in San Francisco County Jail 3. No bail has been set at this time. 

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Zavein Blue Wright, free on mental health diversion for violent assault of elder, has attacked another elder 

Lauderdale Co. woman arrested for elder abuse

By Aria Pons

LAUDERDALE CO., Ala. (WAFF) - A Lauderdale County man is in the hospital while his daughter is charged with elder abuse.

Investigators say the man was not being properly taken care of. Now he’s in the ICU waiting on multiple surgeries to fix what’s wrong.

Lauderdale County investigators tell me this is up there with one of the worst cases of elder abuse that they’ve seen.

“The sooner you can say something, the more we can probably help out the victims,” Sergeant Jordan Craig said.

On around June 10, investigators were called to the hospital to check in on an elderly man.

When they got there, they could clearly see someone who needed help.

“Some pretty severe infections from some bed sores and what appear to be other injuries,” Sgt. Craig said. “Nothing that appears to be actual physical abuse just lack of care. Which can be just as bad. Yes.”

Court records state that the man fell and got stuck between furniture for almost an hour before someone other than his caregiver took him to the hospital.

He’s bedbound so he relies on his caregiver for everything: bathing, eating and using the restroom.

And his caregiver was his own daughter and power of attorney.

“Unfortunately a lot of the time these cases go unreported because of that,” Craig said. “Because the only people that see them is their caregiver.

And to combat that, Lauderdale County Sergeant Jordan Craig suggests checking in on them yourself or calling for a welfare check.

There are some things to look out for.

“Lack of proper care, malnourishment, lack of treatment,” Craig said. “A lot of time these patients are bedridden so they need to be turned so they don’t get bed sores. They need to have their food to be brought to them.”

According to court records, the person who found the victim made sure to stop at multiple ATMs to withdraw money for the victim’s daughter, before dropping him off at the hospital.

Sergeant Craig said they are still investigating further to see.

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Lauderdale Co. woman arrested for elder abuse 

Woman, 101, Who’s Always Loved to Garden, Shares Her Longevity Tips

Ruta Hagmann says life is like a flower.

by Talia Wexler

“Thank you, dear Lord, I have another day.”

Ruta Hagmann has said those words every single morning for as long as she can remember. In July, she’ll turn 102.

For Hagmann, the morning mantra isn’t just habit — it’s philosophy. “Attitude is everything,” she tells TODAY.com.

Walking, eating balanced meals and taking supplements have always been essential to Hagmann’s routine. But the key to longevity, she says, is equally prioritizing a positive mindset.

Here’s what the centenarian has to say about living a long, happy and full life.

Ruta Hagmann will turn 102 years old in July 2026.Courtesy Ruta Hagmann

Stay Positive

Hagmann has lived through more than a century of change — but she doesn’t attribute her positivity to a life without hardship. Instead, it comes down to her perspective.

Hagmann was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924, and was raised on the West Coast in Southern California from age five onward. In 1944, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was a dedicated member of the Alpha Phi sorority.

After marrying David Hagmann, a Navy Lieutenant during World War II and fellow UCLA Bruin, the couple settled down in Orinda, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and raised three children.

Even when life got complicated, Hagmann still chose gratitude, she says.

“I’m just thankful for every day,” Hagmann says. “I don’t know what tomorrow brings, so I just appreciate what I have today.”

And for Hagmann, expressing that gratitude out loud and often is key. “I’m luckier than I thought I would be; I’m so fortunate,” she says.

Let Love Take Root

When Hagmann looks back on her life, the thing she’s proudest of is simple: “Having a wonderful marriage and children.”

In the home where they raised their children, her husband built Hagmann a greenhouse in the backyard for her to pursue her love of gardening. There, Hagmann cultivated her award-winning orchids —many of which her daughter, Valerie Nealis, 72, still cares for today.

Her husband also raised camellias alongside Hagmann’s orchids. For a time, he served as president of the Northern California Camellia Society and developed a hybrid of his very own: the award-winning “Ruta Hagmann” camellia.

Eventually, the greenhouse became more than a hobby space. It was a tangible expression of the couple’s love and care for one another.

Ruth Hagmann is known for her green thumb.Courtesy Ruta Hagmann

Through gardening, Hagmann also developed an important perspective on life, she says.

“(A plant) has its time just like we have our life, and (when) it’s time to go, and you have to let go and be grateful for the time you had,” she says.

That outlook helps her navigate both joy and grief, grounding her in appreciation for the time she shares with loved ones, even when it’s limited.

Ruth Hagmann's husband built her the greenhouse that fueled her love for gardening and flowers.Courtesy Ruta Hagmann

Commit to Community

Beyond her family, Hagmann has always felt a strong sense of responsibility to her community.

Ruth Hagmann partly credits community for her longevity.Courtesy Ruta Hagmann

“As my parents said, it was very important that you appreciate your community,” she says. “You’re fortunate enough to be there and contribute.”

Hagmann was involved in philanthropy as an Alpha Phi throughout college. Later, she became an avid fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital and organized events including fashion shows and dinners. Occasionally, Hagmann would even model in the shows herself, Nealis recalls.

In 1973, she received one of the Women of the Year awards from Children’s Hospital Branches, Inc. for her fundraising efforts for the Oakland branch.

In her seventies, Hagmann also found a way to channel her gardening skills into community service and stepped into the role of Orinda Garden Club president.

Looking back, she sees paying it forward as an important part of a life well lived.

“I just feel so blessed with all of the wonderful things that have happened to me during my life, and enabled me to participate and be a part of.” 

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Woman, 101, Who’s Always Loved to Garden, Shares Her Longevity Tips 

Man, 100, Who Loves to Dance and Just Attended His First Prom, Shares His 4 Simple Longevity Tips

Ray Svejnoha’s community surprised him with everything he needed for the high school milestone.

by Aryelle Siclait

When attending his first prom at age 100 last month, Ray Svejnoha noticed how differently teens dance these days.

“During my time, when we danced with a girl, we held her,” Svenjnoha tells TODAY.com. “They danced in a circle of about 20 people and jumped up and down like little bunnies.”

“And the noise, my God, I couldn’t recognize the songs at all, but that’s the way it is,” he laughs. It was one of the best nights of his life.

Svenjnoha is a resident at Independence Village of Naperville, a senior living facility in Illinois. He didn’t get to go to his prom. “I left for the service,” he recalls.

He was drafted into the Air Force during World War II with three months left in high school. Although he was able to graduate, he missed out on some milestones. He never thought much about having missed his prom, but six high school students — girls who volunteer at the senior living facility and teach residents how to use their smartphones — wanted to do something special for him.

They teamed up with Independence Village staff to surprise Svenjnoha with a prom night he’d never forget.

Teens who volunteered to teach seniors how to use their smartphones surprised 100-year-old Ray Svenjnoha by taking him to the prom since he missed his own.Courtesy Ray Svejnoha

Local businesses donated a trolley, flowers and styled Svenjnoha’s prom haircut. Everything, he says, was taken care of. “It was really great. It was one of the nicest things that’s happened.”

The night was an homage to Svenjnoha’s rich social life and his love of chit-chat — both of which he’s said have contributed to his long life. He spoke with TODAY.com as part of the Incredible Centenarians series to share some other secrets to his longevity.

Fall in Love

“I had a terrific marriage,” says Svenjnoha. “I brag about it constantly.”

He boasts of their teamwork, raising their two sons “who grew up to be great men,” how they instantly clicked when his sister introduced them, and how his wife would catch more fish than him, though she was less experienced at the sport — but “that was to be expected,” he says.

Before she died from cancer, she threatened Svenjnoha: She’d haunt him if he didn’t keep living, maintaining his friendships and relationships. So, he did.

Ray Svejnoha missed his prom because he was drafted into the Air Force.Courtesy Ray Svejnoha

Invest in Your Friendships

“It seems like I can make friends with anybody,” says Svenjnoha. “This is what God put me on this earth for.”

He plays bingo and bunco daily with his fellow residents and says hi to every new face.

Whatever programming the senior center has planned for the day, Svenjnoha says he’s game to interact with whoever’s there, approaching it all with positivity.

“If you’re going to be grouchy, don’t talk to me because I have no room for that,” he says. “I’ve got plenty of room to laugh and kid and do things like that and enjoy (myself).”

Do Work You’re Proud Of

Svenjnoha started training to be an electrician as a teen. His neighbor growing up enlisted the help of neighborhood kids interested in learning the trade. When his neighbor joined the local union, Svenjnoha joined, too. “This was my call,” says Svenjnoha.

Ray Svejnoha met his wife and worked as an electrician when he returned from the Air Force.Courtesy Ray Svejnoha

Move Your Body

Except for a recurring ache in his left leg, “I feel like a 20-year-old,” says Svenjnoha.

He’s tried various treatments to soothe the pain, but nothing helps. “I’ll just grin and bear it,” he says. He can’t give up movement, least of all dancing.

“Dancing was my best treat,” he says. “I used to love to dance.” And because it doesn’t happen too often these days, he’ll do it any chance he gets. Prom was his moment. “There were 25 girls in a circle, and we were dancing,” he recalls. “It was on TV, by God.”

His granddaughter in Anchorage, Alaska, called to tell him she’d spotted a clip of him on the dance floor captured by Naperville Community Television.

Independence Village of Naperville, the local Rotary Club and the high school students who got to know Ray Svejnoha had a trolley, flowers and Svejnoha's haircut gifted to him.Courtesy Ray Svejnoha

For 30 years, Svenjnoha taught swimming to children and adults with arthritis at the local pool. He swam with his kids in his backyard pool he’d invite the neighbors to use. He also took the neighborhood kids and his children fishing. And a friend taught him how to play tennis.

“I really enjoy that,” he says. 

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Man, 100, Who Loves to Dance and Just Attended His First Prom, Shares His 4 Simple Longevity Tips 

Caregiver’s innocent smile hid horrific abuse that was only exposed by TikTok

By Katie Jerkovich

A Southern California caregiver – tasked with caring for a family’s 80-year-old mom – will finally have her day in court, more than a year after dozens of videos posted on TikTok documented months of alleged horrific abuse.

During a hearing in Bakersfield this week, the judge denied a mental health diversion request by caregiver Julie Rothgeb after the terrible acts of her alleged abuse were exposed in more than 50 Ring videos posted on social media generating tens of millions of views.

Rothgeb is facing one misdemeanor count of assault and battery of elder or dependent adult abuse, according to documents obtained by The California Post.

A Southern California caregiver-tasked-with caring for a family’s 80-year-old mom will finally have to face trial. ABC23

Julie Rothgeb is facing one misdemeanor count of assault and battery.

Kern County DA said at the last court hearing, the judge dealt with the caregiver’s attorney’s mental health diversion filing in an effort to bypass trial and go straight to treatment. However, the judge ultimately denied it following the DA’s opposition.

The abuse includes allegations of “smacking” the elderly woman with a flyswatter, emotional, verbal and other physical abuse. There were also allegations that the caregiver forced the older woman to exercise for hours at a time while she was wearing weights on her ankles and wrists, 23ABC in Bakersfield reported. 

Windy Duenas, the victim’s daughter, called the wait for justice “frustrating” noting that “every time there was a court date it was continued.”

Windy Duenas, the victim’s daughter, called the wait for justice “frustrating” noting that “every time there was a court date it was continued.” TIKTOK/@windy_duenas1

“We just feel like there’s no rights for the victim and that everything about this case has been minimized down to nothing, and I have just lost faith in the justice system,” Duenas told the outlet.

“I am upset that we’re here. I am upset that these are the possibilities that are on the table for something so serious and with so much evidence.”

The family said when they first tried to pursue charges against Rothgeb the DA told the daughter there was insufficient evidence, according to the outlet.

“There’s over 50 videos that they had at the time of saying there wasn’t sufficient evidence,” Duenas previously said.

The abuse includes allegations of emotional, verbal and other physical abuse. TikTok/@Wendy_duenes1

A jury trial date has now been set for June 29, 2026. ABC23

In 2025, a new DA reversed course, citing more evidence obtained through additional videos and statements, opting to charge Rothgeb with a misdemeanor, per the report.

“And later, for the same evidence they had the first time, they now say it’s worth going in for a misdemeanor — when it meets all the elements of several felony charges,” Duenas said.

Jeremy Oliver with Kern County Adult and Aging Services said his department investigated thousands of cases of elder abuse last year with dozens more that he said go unreported, per the report.

A jury trial date has now been set for June 29, 2026.

The Post reached out to the county’s Adult and Aging services for further comment.  

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Caregiver’s innocent smile hid horrific abuse that was only exposed by TikTok