5 Investigates: Hundreds of elders abused by caregivers

BOSTON —They are caregivers turned criminals, accused of horrific crimes against the elderly.

And that mistreatment of elders by trained and state certified is more widespread than you may think.

Records obtained by 5 Investigates show in the past five years the state took action against the certifications of more than 200 certified nurse aides for cases of abuse, neglect and misappropriation.

"He was boxing and hitting my dad on the face and shoulder. You could hear the physical slaps. My dad was cowering and mumbling, 'Please stop hitting me.'"

Kristy Donovan said in describing the abuse her father, William Myerson, received at the hands of a CNA during his second night at Emeritus at Farm Pond in Framingham in 2014.

Video obtained by 5 Investigates shows the CNA, Samuel Ayekple, taunting and hitting Myerson, a patient he was supposed to be helping. Myerson was 70 years old, non-verbal and suffering from dementia.

A second CNA, Damaris Diaz, recorded the abuse on her cellphone.

"I was horrified," said Donovan, who said she had trusted the people at the nursing home to take care of her father.

"I really don't have words for them," she said. "I will never forgive them to be honest. My dad struggled a long time after that. He didn't trust anybody, he was nervous all of the time."

5 Investigates also obtained video of Ayekple and Diaz taunting another patient, a 77-year-old woman.

In the video, Diaz flicked the woman's ears, wiped mucus in her mouth, and mocked her over and over again.

"You're so ugly. You're ugly," Diaz said. "Such a loser."

When we confronted Ayekple and asked him about the abuse depicted in the video, he had nothing to say. Asked if he thought the elderly deserve compassion and respect, he walked away.

"What I find in the abuse cases is a lack of awareness by caregivers on how to protect and respect the elderly," said David Hoey, an attorney who has been representing victims of nursing home abuse and neglect for almost two decades.

"That tells me these aides are not being trained or supervised by those that do know how to protect and maintain dignity of elderly people," he added.

Ayekple and Diaz were charged with assault and battery on persons over 60, but both reached deals with the court in which they admitted they assaulted elderly patients. If they complete probation without problems, no conviction will show on their records.

"The punishment definitely was not what it should be," said Donovan. "They pretty much got a slap on the wrist."

The Massachusetts Health and Human Services Department maintains a license verification site which includes CNAs, but when we looked up Ayekple and Diaz there was no disciplinary action noted and no indication they had committed any crimes, even though they are on court-ordered probation.

According to a civil lawsuit in another case, a CNA allegedly raped an 85-year-old woman at a nursing home in Marlborough. The staff cleaned up the victim after the attack and did not bring her to the hospital until the next day. The jury ruled in the victim's favor. The suspect was fired but never criminally charged.

In the case of Henry Hayes Jr. of Rehoboth, the abuse he suffered was not physical, it was financial.

"This was like a bad dream," said his son, Henry Hayes III. "He was 90, he was vulnerable and he needed help."

So Hayes turned to a home care agency for around-the-clock help for his elderly parents.

But one of the caregivers they got, an unlicensed in-home aide named Kristen Gonzales, ended up stealing more than $30,000 in cash and jewelry, including wedding bands and Hayes' father's cherished railroad pocket watch. Gonzales, now on probation after pleading guilty, even stole the family safe.

"We told him, 'Dad, this was the girl you liked so much, she's the one that was doing the stealing,'" Henry Hayes III said. "Eleven days after this happened my father had a heart attack and he died. (It was) very traumatic to the entire family."

The companies that employed each of the caregivers tell us they all passed background checks and had proper training. Ayekple and Diaz are prevented from working with the elderly as long as they're on probation, but there's nothing preventing them from retraining to become a certified nurse aide in Massachusetts again.

To protect your elderly loved ones, experts and victims said you should find out how experienced the staff is, check the staffing levels and state inspection reports, make unannounced visits, and secure any valuables. You may also may want to install a surveillance camera if you are getting in-home care.

There are a few things you can do to protect your loved ones from abuse.

Check into how experienced the staff is at the facility and the staffing levels.

You can also get state inspection reports online and check the licenses of caregivers.

If the care is in your home, you could consider a surveillance camera, as long as you follow state laws.

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5 Investigates: Hundreds of elders abused by caregivers