DOCUMENT: Revolting, Crime

Teens Charged In Nursing Home Abuse

Cops: Female caregivers spat on, spanked, humiliated infirm elderly

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Teens Charged In Nursing Home Abuse

DECEMBER 2--A group of teenagers working at a Minnesota nursing home abused and sexually humiliated elderly residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, prosecutors allege.

The six young female caregivers were named yesterday in criminal complaints charging them with a variety of cruel behavior at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Albert Lea, a city in southern Minnesota.

Only two of those charged--Brianna Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Larson, 18--are named in the complaints since they were not minors when the alleged abuse occurred.

According to District Court complaints filed against Broitzman (pictured above left) and Larson (above right), nursing home residents were spat upon, spanked, improperly touched, and tormented by the teenagers earlier this year. Excerpts of the misdemeanor complaints can be found here.

Broitzman allegedly poked one resident's breasts, spit into the mouth of another elderly person, and "put her bare butt" in the face of a Good Samaritan Society resident identified as "S.W." Larson once "inserted her finger into a resident's rectum," spit water on another "vulnerable adult," and would deliberately bathe a resident in a rough manner so the elderly man would get an erection.

The minor caregivers are identified in the complaints by their initials and dates of birth. Broitzman, charged with 11 criminal counts, and Larson, charged with 10 counts, face a year in jail or up to a year in jail on each of the raps. (8 pages)

1/22/09 UPDATE: Mug shots of teens arraigned in abuse case