SANDUSKY, OHIO (February 22, 2017) – A Sandusky, Ohio nursing home worker was caught on camera flashing a 100-year-old dementia patient and performing a lap dance for him.
Brittany L. Fultz, 26, was charged with gross sexual imposition and fired from her job at The Commons of Providence after another employee recorded the incident and alerted a supervisor. The incident took place in early December 2016, but the woman who captured the footage approached her bosses about the incident on February 12, 2017.
READ MORE | Nursing home worker fired for giving lap dance to elderly man with dementia
The disturbing footage shows Fultz pulling down her pants, “mooning” the elderly resident, and performing a lewd dance on him. Sandusky police Detective Anthony Bath said the patient did not appear “on board with” or aware of what was going on.
Fultz’s charge of gross sexual imposition is considered a fourth-degree felony. The female employee who reported the incident was not charged, but is no longer employed by the facility.
Providence Care Centers reported the incident to police and the Ohio Department of Health.
Far too many nursing home residents are victims of elder abuse and/or neglect. The result of such abusive treatment is devastating to the victim and their loved ones who placed their trust in the facility.
The National Center for Elder Abuse (NCEA) estimates that about 84 percent of abusive situations involving older adults go unreported or unrecognized. For this reason, nursing home abuse has been called the “hidden crime.”
Part of the reason this problem is so widespread, is that nursing home employees are oftentimes underappreciated and underpaid, creating a tense and hostile working environment. This dismal environment can produce employees who are frustrated and not of the highest level of professionalism.
Click here to learn more about the signs of nursing home negligence and abuse.
An investigation by CNN found more than 1,000 nursing homes have been cited for mishandling suspected cases of sex abuse. According to the news outlet, Illinois had 386 allegations of sexual abuse of nursing home residents recorded since 2013, 201 of which involved a caretaker.
You can look up the name of a nursing home in federal inspection data and see whether it has been cited for sexual abuse or other issues in the past three years. Click here to learn how to conduct this search.
Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., has responded to the growing problem of nursing home negligence by creating a skilled, experienced and dedicated nursing home abuse and neglect practice group. If a loved one of yours has been abused or injured or died in a nursing home or long-term care facility, contact us today at our toll-free number or through our online form for a free, no-obligation review of your case.
