Apology by convicted elder abuser not accepted by victim's daughter

By Justin Strawser

LEWISBURG — An apology offered in Union County Court by the 19-year-old former resident aide who pleaded guilty to extensive elder abuse was not accepted by family of a victim.

On Tuesday, Madison Laine Cox, of Pinchtown Road, Montgomery, was sentenced to three months in jail, followed by 18 months of house arrest with electronic monitoring and 171 months of probation. Cox pleaded guilty in February to 12 misdemeanors: one count of criminal conspiracy to commit abuse of a care-dependent person and 11 counts of abuse of a care-dependent person at Heritage Springs Memory Care in Lewisburg.

Cox apologized and stated she did not have any reasons for her behavior.

“I intend to do better with my future and not make the same mistakes ever again,” Cox said to Union County Judge Michael Piecuch. “I want you to know I will work hard every day to become a better person.”

Lynn Fiedler, the daughter of elder abuse victim Alice Longenberger, did not believe her mother’s abuser.

“I feel that it was very empty,” Fiedler said. “A very empty apology.”

Fiedler and her son, Brandon Fiedler, read victim impact statements before the sentencing. Alice Longenberger is 94 and has dementia.

“It is very hard for me to be up here and not say anything unprofessional to you all on the other side, especially you, Madison Cox, in light of the last time we were all here,” Brandon Fiedler said. “Excuses and zero remorse were shown. It’s truly sickening. But you don’t care. The last time we were here, I watched as you were laughing, smiling with your friends while waiting for the judge to come out of the courtroom. The only true remorse is that you got caught.”

They said Alice Longenberger has suffered both physically and mentally due to the abuse.

“You may not care when the lights are not on you, but you will care now because the public will judge you very harshly from this day forward,” Brandon Fiedler said. “Everywhere you go it will follow you and people will know. My family can finally go back to their lives after this is over, however, we will always have a heavy wound that time will never heal.”

The victims, Lynn Fiedler said, are not only the Heritage Springs patients but their families, their friends and the community itself.

“People are horrified by what you did and are deeply hurt and emotionally distraught by the suffering you have caused,” she said. “You have hurt people, Madison. I don’t think you have any idea or understanding of how far reaching your abuse goes and how much pain you have caused for so many people. Or maybe you simply don’t care.”

Fiedler criticized defense attorney Graham C. Showalter, of Lewisburg, for saying Cox did not take nearly as many photographs as her juvenile codefendant.

“I’m wondering how many pictures of naked elders being demeaned and victimized is OK?” she said. “One? Two? Three? Because to me, and I can safely say to everyone in this courtroom with the exception of you, your family and your attorney, the answer is zero as it is to any decent human being.”

Alice Longenberger’s dignity her family’s peace were stolen, Lynn Fiedler said.

“I hope that today’s sentence will make it clear to you that this is not acceptable to this community or to any decent human being and that you are punished to the fullest extent of the law,” she said. “You deserve no leniency.”

Fiedler had mixed feelings about the sentencing.

“I’m pleased and I’m disappointed at the same time,” she said. “I’m pleased in the sentencing in that it is the most we can do under the current laws in Pennsylvania. I’m disappointed in that the laws are not stricter and there wasn’t more of a punishment.”

Fiedler thanked Piecuch, District Attorney Brian Kerstetter and friends, families and supporters. Fiedler has been working with State Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-27, as part of an elder abuse task force to change the laws, including one that would place elder abusers on lists like sexual offenders are placed on lists.

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Apology by convicted elder abuser not accepted by victim's daughter