Brianna Broitzman (MyspaceMySpace) and Ashton Larson (Myspace)

Albert Lea, MN – The Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Albert Lea probably isn’t the best place to be if you have Alzheimer’s.  Oh, sure, the nurse’s aides are pretty – but they’ll also spit in your mouth, sexually abuse you, and taunt you until you cry.  Which would be fine if the girls were working at the Albert Lea Dominatrix Emporium, I guess, but doesn’t work out so well in the dementia unit.  After a months-long investigation, four juveniles and two legal adults are facing abuse charges.  The two adults are Brianna Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Larson, 18.

I’d be inclined to think that this case was overblown if I were a casual reader.  After all, these are two very pretty young white girls, right?  They appear to be middle-class at least. Brianna’s old Myspace shows a pretty Albert Lea High School student – popular, on the dance team, not particularly horrid in any way.

But your favorite imp was a nurse in another life, and kids, let me tell ya – it’s not easy to get criminal charges filed in nursing home abuse cases.  This investigation started in May after allegations of elder abuse were filed that dated back to January.  We’re not talking about a two-week he-said she-said thing, here.

In early May, a teenage nurse’s aide was being fired from Good Samaritan for swearing in front of a resident.  She decided not to go down alone, and blew the whistle on at least four other aides, alleging that they were routinely abusing their residents.

Good Samaritan immediately launched an investigation and reported the alleged abuse to the Minnesota Department of Health.  The home also fired the other aides, which tells me that they were cleaning house in a CYA move – but also that they had reason to suspect the informant was telling the truth. Sounds to me like a few charge nurses shoulda gone with ‘em, but hey, that’s just me.

On August 28 of this year, the Minnesota Department of Health released their findings in their investigation of the abuse at Good Samaritan.  The department investigated five aides and found that four of them, primarily Broitzman and Larson, abused fifteen residents repeatedly or witnessed “verbal, sexual and emotional” abuse and did nothing to stop it.  The department filed a civil action to have the aides’ licenses pulled, and turned over their report to police.

The police investigation got a little broader and covered eight aides, of whom six have now been charged. Aside from Broitzman and Larson, the remaining four are being charged with legally mandated failure to report abuse – in other words, they knew what was happening and didn’t do anything.  Two of the teens, Alicia Heilmann (Myspace) and Morgan Walton (Myspace) were juveniles when the crimes were committed, but are both now 18. They’re being tried in juvenile court.

During interviews with investigators, Brianna Broitzman admitted that she and Ashton Larson took photos and videos of residents for fun.  She said that they also poked one female dementia patient in the breast.  Ashton Larson was a bit more forthcoming, and admitted to various abuses including spitting, holding her hand over a resident’s mouth, dry-humping residents, sticking her finger in a resident’s anus, touching a resident’s ass, and getting in bed with residents.  Er, what?  Seriously?  Ew.  Just ewww, Ashton!

Other aides reported that most of the aides knew about the abuse, because it was discussed and laughed over at breaks.  Several aides reported that Brianna and Ashton dispensed spankings to residents, teased them, and poked them in the genitals.  One girl reported that Brianna mooned a resident up close, sticking her bare butt in the resident’s face, and that Ashton rubbed resident’s genitals in an attempt to get them sexually aroused.  Okay, again… say what?  Come on, now.  And this went on for months without anyone saying a word until some kid got fired for cussing?  Something was clearly very wrong at the Good Samaritan, y’all.

Brianna Broitzman is charged with three counts of assault in the fifth degree of a caregiver to a vulnerable adult, three counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult, three counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, one instance of disorderly conduct by a caregiver, and one instance of mandated reporter failure to report.  For that, she faces some $22,000 in fines, or a year in prison for each count.

Ashton Larson is charged with two counts of assault in the fifth degree of a caregiver to a vulnerable adult, one count of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult, four counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, two counts of disorderly conduct by a caregiver and one count of mandated reporter failure to report.  She’sShe reviews looking at $28,000 in fines, or a year in prison on each count.

Here’s the thing, though.  Already prosecutors are saying that it’s unlikely the girls will do any jail time at all.   Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson says that Brianna and Ashton “most likely will face suspended jail sentences and probation, so they’d have the threat of jail hanging over them if they get in more trouble.”  Oh, well.  That’ll teach ‘em to behave, Mr. Nelson.  Really?

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