Attorney General Bonta: Owner of Santa Cruz Residential Care Home Arrested for Elder Abuse

SANTA CRUZ – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the arrest and charges against the owner of Rose Garden Residential Care Home and her employee for felony elder abuse that caused the death of a dependent adult in their care. Both defendants have been taken into custody and will face prosecution by the California Department of Justice Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, for a single count of felony elder abuse each.
 
“Elders deserve care, respect, and protection,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Those who are responsible for the care of elderly and dependent adults carry a profound duty to ensure their safety and well-being. At the California Department of Justice, we are committed to standing against any form of elder abuse or neglect, and we will take immediate action to hold accountable those who exploit or harm these vulnerable individuals.”
 
The victim, an 88-year-old dementia patient, was discovered deceased after departing from Rose Garden. The investigation revealed that the staff member responsible for his care fell asleep and was unaware of his absence. Dressed only in a t-shirt and diaper, the victim wandered .4 miles away from Rose Garden and died due to cold exposure. 
 
It is important to note that criminal charges must be proven in a court of law. Every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

DMFEA works to protect Californians by investigating and prosecuting those responsible for abuse, neglect, and fraud committed against elderly and dependent adults in the state, and those who perpetrate fraud on the Medi-Cal program.
 
The Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $69,244,976 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2025. The remaining 25 percent is funded by the State of California. FY 2025 is from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025.
 
A copy of the complaint can be found here. 

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Attorney General Bonta: Owner of Santa Cruz Residential Care Home Arrested for Elder Abuse

Neighbor cell phone video captured assault at Portage adult foster care facility

by Michael Krafcik

Portage Police said the owner of Aina Acres AFC LLC. assaulted a 71 year old resident Mar. 29 (WWMT/Manny Revilla)

PORTAGE, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs suspended the license of a Portage adult foster care facility after police said a neighbor witnessed the facility's owner abusing a resident.

Portage Department of Public Safety Senior Deputy Chief John Blue said a neighbor captured cell phone video of the March 19, 2021, incident at Aina Acres AFC LLC., on Mount Vernon Avenue that led detectives to an arrest. People who had seen the video said it was shocking.

Blue said the owner, Adebiyi Aina, was arrested.

State investigators said Adebiyi Aina 'forcefully' pulled a 71 year old foster care resident into his wheelchair in a 'violent manner' While wheeling the patient, he applied three knee strikes to the back of the man's wheelchair and struck him in the back of the head.@wwmtnews pic.twitter.com/M7Ycn8UsTL

— Mike KrafcikTV (@Mkrafcik) March 29, 2021

Aina said he did nothing wrong.

"The truth is going to come out. You can’t attribute anything to the injuries," Aina said.

State investigators said on March 19, a neighbor spotted Aina forcefully pulling a 71-year-old foster care resident out of his van and into this wheelchair in a violent manner.

As he pushed the resident in his wheelchair to the front entrance, investigators said Aina hit him three times on his back with his knee while he sat in the wheelchair and then hit him in the back of the head.

The report indicated each time he was struck, the resident yelled, "ouch" or "stop it."

"I was trying to get him out the van, it wasn’t anything malicious and I was trying to get him in the house as quickly and safely as possible," Aina said. 

"I was trying to get him out the van, it wasn’t anything malicious and I was trying to get him in the house as quickly and safely as possible," Aina told us when we encountered him outside the Portage adult foster care facility.@wwmtnews pic.twitter.com/tLejXDBubF

— Mike KrafcikTV (@Mkrafcik) March 29, 2021

Blue said the elderly resident was taken to the hospital hours after police responded.

He said the man was eventually released but investigators were trying to determine if the man's injuries resulted from underlining medical issues.

Investigators said the man was treated for a golf-ball size lump on his forehead and had a mark and bruise on the left side of his face.

Blue said prosecutors were waiting on additional medical records to determine how the caretaker would be charged.

"We were either looking at a domestic violence standpoint or from the vulnerable adult standpoint," Blue said.

Aina Acres AFC Summary Suspension by WWMT on Scribd

 

Sally Pung, director of Michigan's Long-Term Care Ombudsmen Program, said all too often most abuse cases in adult foster care homes don't get reported.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, or LARA, suspended the facility's license on March 26.

LARA said the suspension was an emergency action taken to protect residents' health and safety. The agency said the facility violated the Adult Foster Care Facility Licensing Act, as well as rules related to mistreatment and physical abuse of a resident.

The facility was prohibited from operating due to the suspension, and could not accept new residents.

The facility, which opened in 2010, was licensed to house up to five residents. LARA records showed the facility was determined to be in compliance with its adult foster care license, according to a October 2020 licensing study report.

David Harns, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Regulatory Affairs, said Aina AFC LLC was the first adult foster care facility to have its license suspended in Michigan in 2021.

Harns said three adult foster care facilities had their licenses suspended in 2020. Harns said the agency didn't track, which suspensions were as a result of abuse allegations.

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Neighbor cell phone video captured assault at Portage adult foster care facility 

Las Vegas senior facility owner charged with abusing residents

By Sabrina Schnur

The owner and an employee of a Las Vegas senior facility were arrested on elderly abuse charges this month.

Ravette Taylor and Richard Cisneros, who were arrested Jan. 20, are each charged with seven counts of abuse of an older or vulnerable person, according to court records.

A certified nurse’s assistant who previously worked at “The Ohana Independent Living Home” called police Jan. 13 to report two elderly women were being sexually abused, beaten and overmedicated at the senior care facility, according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Police found eight residents, including a man suffering from Parkinson’s disease who was immobile, another man who was blind, deaf and suffering from dementia and six women suffering from advanced dementia. Taylor told police that neither she nor any employees had training in the medical field.

In her interview with police, Taylor, the owner, said she bought the home from a registered nurse in 2018.

She told police she didn’t get the property registered as a group home, which would allow her to care for patients with advanced needs, because the fire department told her that getting the home up to code would cost $16,000. Instead, she registered it as an independent living facility.

“She admitted she was aware the residents needed a high level of care and admitted her business was not providing the care required,” police said in the report.

“When asked she stated she had never presented herself as a medical professional to the social workers at the hospital but had never told the social workers that the prior owner was no longer associated with the business and that (Taylor) was not a medical professional,” the report continued.

Cisneros told police he was not familiar with caring for patients who are immobile and was unsure of how often to change their positions to prevent bedsores. He said he usually moved patients once at the beginning and end of his shift.

Police redacted the location of the home in the report, and the secretary of state’s business licensing department had no record of the facility.

Cisneros was released without bail, and Taylor was released after posting bail. The two are scheduled to appear in court again Feb. 22.

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Las Vegas senior facility owner charged with abusing residents

Asst. AG On Death Of Elderly Woman: ‘Her Backside Rotted Away, Her Bones Liquefied’

HALLANDALE BEACH (CBSMiami) – The Broward Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, arrested the owner of a Hallandale Beach assisted living facility after an elderly woman died under her care.

Gail Victor, 64, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of an elderly person by culpable negligence.

According to investigators, the 80-year-old woman “developed pressure ulcers on her buttocks, hips, sacrum and heels while under care at Bernadette’s ALF, located in Hallandale Beach.”

Detectives said Victor, a licensed practical nurse, not only failed to treat the victim but also falsified nursing notes.

Victor also allegedly concealed the extent and severity of the ulcers from others involved in the 80-year-old woman’s care.

Authorities said the victim’s condition worsened to the point she had to be taken to Aventura Hospital.

Just eight days after arriving at the hospital, the woman died as a result of cardio respiratory arrest, sepsis and osteomyelitis.

Assistant Florida Attorney General Arielle Demby-Berger said what Victor did to the victim was gruesome.

“Under the care of Ms. Victor, her backside rotted away, her bones liquefied.” Demby-Berger said.

“This was a horrendous manslaughter.”

Victor has subsequently relinquished her license to the Department of Health.

When a family member asked that Victor be released without bond, Broward Judge Michael Davis wouldn’t hear it.

“This was a heinous crime, a particularly heinous crime,” the judge said.

He ordered Victor held on $20,000 bond.

She has to wear a GPS tracking device and is forbidden from having anything to do with anyone’s health care.

If convicted on the first-degree manslaughter charge, Victor faces up to 30 years in prison.

Full Article & Source:
Asst. AG On Death Of Elderly Woman: ‘Her Backside Rotted Away, Her Bones Liquefied’