Two plead guilty in Kane abuse case
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Two former nursing home employees pleaded guilty to reduced charges today for their roles in harassing and abusing a 94-year-old Alzheimer's patient at the John J. Kane Regional Center in Glen Hazel last year. The prosecution dropped all charges against a third former employee. The elderly victim has since passed away of unrelated causes.
Karen Perry, 46, of Homestead, pleaded to a summary charge of harassment, for yelling at Thelma Bryant, who was confined to a wheelchair. Assistant District Attorney Julie Capone said that had the case gone to trial she would have called witnesses to testify that Ms. Perry antagonized the elderly woman, telling her that she had slept with Mrs. Bryant's husband. Witnesses would have testified that she hit the patient in the forehead and also threw an orange at Mrs. Bryant.
Shelly Keene, 36, of West Mifflin, pleaded to one count of simple assault. The prosecutor said would have called witnesses who saw her hitting Mrs. Bryant in the forehead. Medical records indicated she did not suffer any injuries as a result.
The Allegheny County district attorney dropped all charges against Shalaya Hatten, 31, of the Hill District. She had been charged with simple assault, neglect and harassment.
After a county police investigation, the county fired all three of the women in November 2008.
After her hearing, Ms. Hatten said she felt terribly humiliated by the charges. She had worked at Kane for nine years and was on vacation at the time she was alleged to have harmed Ms. Bryant. Ms. Hatten said she does not intend to try to get her job back; she said she has sued the county in civil court for what she's been through.
Earlier, Ms. Capone told Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kathleen A. Durkin she had come to an agreement with Kane administrators on reduced charges for the other two defendants. The defendants agreed not to seek employment at a Kane facility.
Relatives of Mrs. Bryant did not attend the hearing.
Judge Durkin sentenced Ms. Perry to 90 days of probation and Ms. Keene to two years of probation. She made it a condition of their probation that they not seek work with the elderly in any capacity.
"This is everybody's nightmare," Judge Durkin said, getting choked up as she spoke. "They put their parents or loved ones into a home...they want the person to at least be decently cared for. Frankly, this is not easy to hear. I do think this is despicable behavior."
First Published October 5, 2009 2:25 pm
