Saturday, May 18, 2013

NY A.G.: 'Abusive' Photos Taken of Local Nursing Home Patients

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced on Wednesday that two certified nurses' aides have been charged with taking gruesome, illegal photographs of 11 patients at a trio of area nursing homes.

The A.G. reported that the aides, both Centereach residents, violated the patients' privacy and trust, taking photos of one patient's bedsore, a video of a dementia patient "riveted with fear," and other instances Schneiderman called "abusive and alarming."

“These aides engaged in actions that are illegal and will not be tolerated in New York," Schneiderman said. "The people engaged to take care of our most vulnerable citizens have a special responsibility, and I will do everything in my power to protect the right of every New Yorker to safe, respectful and quality care.”

Schneiderman said the 11 incidents occurred at Woodhaven Nursing Home in Port Jefferson Station, Jefferson's Ferry in South Setauket, and the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook.

The two nurses, 25-year-old David Rover and 23-year-old Thomas Mocera, were both arraigned in a 15-count indictment – all felony charges – on Tuesday in Suffolk County Supreme Court. Rover is charged with seven counts of unlawful surveillance, one count of dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image and two counts of offering a false instrument for filing. Mocera is charged with five counts of unlawful surveillance. Each count carries a sentence of 15 months to 4 years imprisonment.

Rover had been arrested in March and Tuesday's indictment followed a more thorough investigation by authorities. According to the A.G., the incidents reportedly occurred between September 2009 and March 2013. Schneiderman laid out the contents of the grisly photos.

Full Article and Source:
A.G.: 'Abusive' Photos Taken of Local Nursing Home Patients

7 comments:

  1. Were they trying to report other abuse, or why did they do it?

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  2. I wondered the same, Thelma. At first, I'm shocked that they would do such a thing but then I got to thinking about how the story is twisted on advocates. It could do either way.

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  3. You're both right. This is not clear at all.

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  4. Notice they focus on the pictures and not the fact that the one person had bedsores....

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  5. Yep and the same thing happened in my husband's case Gary Harvey. Focus is on the individual who is reporting the abuse, instead of the bed sore.

    Survellience??? Really?? Gary Harvey has 3 security camera's and the only who can veiw them are the abusers.

    Does not say if they were reporting the bedsores or nothing here. My guess is that when a person gets a wound or bedsore, I think it is a requirement by PHL to take pictures. I know my husband has dozens of them in his medical file.

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  6. This doesn't smell right to me either.

    Sara Harvey brings up a good point. She's lived it.

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  7. I bet there will be a follow up story on this and the truth, whatever it turns out to be, will come out.

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