No penalty for staffer who stole from cognitively impaired resident in Sauk Rapids

by Nora G. Hertel

SAUK RAPIDS — No arrests were made or charges filed after a pool staffer at a Sauk Rapids nursing home attempted to steal $1,420 and financially exploited a vulnerable adult. 

A contracted employee at Good Shepherd Lutheran Home in Sauk Rapids took and used checks from a resident's checkbook last year, according to a Minnesota Department of Health report that concluded in March. 

The Sauk Rapids Police Department followed up in April and hit a brick wall: the victim had died, the nursing home had destroyed his records, the bank had closed and the victim didn't have family members to contact, according to the police incident report.

The Benton County Attorney's office did not receive anything about the suspect and didn't file any charges, according to Assistant County Attorney Bob Anderson. 

Sauk Rapids Police Chief Perry Beise called it a "perfect storm" for the suspect. One of the checks was used in Missouri, placing it in a different jurisdiction, plus the victim wasn't available and no one actually saw the suspect take the checks, he said.

Kristine Sundberg, Executive Director of Elder Voice Family Advocates, called the situation a travesty. 

"The reason we do investigations is to result in accountability," said Sundberg. "In this case no one was held accountable, first and foremost the person who stole from this man."

he alleged perpetrator was named in the police report but not in the Office of Health Facility Complaints Investigative Public Report, which found her responsible for maltreatment at Good Shepherd. 

She worked for a contractor at the facility, according to the state report. "The director of nursing said the (alleged perpetrator) worked two shifts at the facility in June 2018, and was asked not to return due to an unrelated incident."

Why no charges? Why no bank documents?

A bank flagged the resident's account and alerted Good Shepherd Lutheran Home of potential fraudulent activity, according to the Department of Health report. One check went to Papa John's, one to a Missouri Walmart and another to the alleged perpetrator. A fourth check from a different account had the victim's routing and account numbers written in. That check was also written out to the suspect.

"At that time, the resident was moderately cognitively impaired and required the assistance from others for decision making," stated the Department of Health report.

The resident died prior to the maltreatment investigation, according to the state report. The investigator tried to contact the alleged perpetrator and sent a subpoena, with no response.  

The Sauk Rapids Police Department started to investigate the incident in August 2018 and followed up in April, after the Department of Health report concluded.

In April an investigator called Good Shepherd to see if the bank documents existed for possible criminal charges, according to the incident report. The documents had been destroyed. 

"At this time I have no further follow-up that can be completed as I have no victims to obtain information from and I'm unable to locate any of the bank documents," Investigator Sean Gales wrote in the report. 

When asked whether it was standard practice to destroy a resident's documents after death, Good Shepherd's Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jodi Speicher wrote in an email to the St. Cloud Times: "We have a record retention policy and we follow all state and federal requirements."

The nursing home takes all complaints seriously, Speicher said by phone Wednesday. The facility reported the situation with the pool staffer to the state and the police as soon as it arose, per policy.

The Department of Health placed responsibility for maltreatment on the staffer. Good Shepherd Lutheran Home told the state of plans to educate staff to "routinely monitor resident rooms and encourage them to use the locked drawer."

"The facility recognizes that a contracted employee participated in conduct that is inconsistent with professional and ethical behavior," according to the report. "It is difficult in today's society for a facility to predetermine a staff member's ethical standards and behaviors."

Why are the elderly targeted? 

Beise has seen a lot of older people fall victim to theft and scams, he said. And scams are nearly impossible to investigate. 

"Crooks who do fraudulent things like to target the elderly," Beise said. Older people don't check their accounts as often and might assume people are being nice, rather than trying to exploit them.

A lot of residents in facilities across the state have memory or cognitive issues that make them easy to exploit, Sundberg said. 

Staff and others stole nearly $117,000 from residents of assisted living facilities and housing with services establishments from mid-2013 to mid-2018, according to an analysis of state records by a founding member of Elder Voice Eilon Caspi. That's not including nursing homes. 

"I think we've just scratched the surface," Sundberg said. 

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No penalty for staffer who stole from cognitively impaired resident in Sauk Rapids