Montgomery woman sentenced for senior abuse

A former employee of a Union County memory care center who with a juvenile took inappropriate pictures of elderly residents will be under court supervision for 16 years, Judge Michael Piecuch ruled Monday after rejecting a more lenient plea deal last month, PennLive.com reported.

Madison Elaine Cox, 19, of Montgomery, was ordered to spend the first three months in jail, followed by 18 months of house arrest under electronic monitoring.

The original plea agreement rejected by Piecuch recommended a prison sentence of three years to two years minus a day, followed by three years’ probation.

You failed the test of human decency – I’ll never know why,” Piecuch told Cox, questioning whether she understood the depth of her actions, warning that she may someday be in the hands of strangers, PennLive.com said.

Her actions and inactions caused lasting psychological damage, the judge said.

Cox pledged it would never happen again and told the court that she’s trying to do better every day, PennLive.com reported.

Cox and a boy also from Montgomery each worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift at Heritage Springs Memory Care Center near Lewisburg as resident assistants.

In February, Cox admitted to taking disturbing pictures and videos of at least 12 patients between the ages of 69 and 100, while she worked at Heritage Springs Memory Care Near Lewisburg, a senior living facility for people with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. Some of the photos showed patients partially clothed or nude, authorities said, according to PennLive.com.

He has been adjudicated but because he is a juvenile his record is not public.

“You stole my mother’s dignity. You stole our family’s peace. I hope today’s sentence will make it clear to you that this is not acceptable to this community or to any other decent human being…,” Lynn Fiedler, whose 94-year-old mother was one of the victims, said to Cox during the hearing, per PennLive.com.

Fiedler has taken the lead in forming a task force whose goal is to strengthen state laws so that elder abuse crimes are felonies, with their sights set on revising two Senate bills, one of which would require a registry for elder abusers like the requirement for sex offenders. They hope that the bill will be named for Fiedler’s mother Alice, PennLive.com said.

A state Department of Human Services investigation resulted in the revocation of the certificate of compliance for Heritage Springs and the issuance of a provisional one, with the department finding violations including insufficient and inadequate staffing at times and staff members making sexually inappropriate comments to and harassing residents, PennLive.com reported.

Later inspections found the secure dementia care facility again was in compliance and its regular license was restored on April 15, per the news organization.

The facility has since revised its hiring policy, requiring all, except dietary employees, to be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or GED. A revised cell phone policy now requires staff to keep their devices in their vehicles or in a locked storage bin with access permitted only on break or lunch, according to PennLive.com.

In addition to her prison and home detention sentences, Cox was ordered to pay a fine of $200 and undergo 39 months of intensive probation. She is also prohibited from being unsupervised or employed in anything that involves seniors or minors.

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Montgomery woman sentenced for senior abuse

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