Minnesota Nursing Home Aide Pleads Guilty to Abuse of Residents
We previously discussed Luther Haven Nursing Home and the horrific abuse that occurred there in our blog.
Recall that six residents suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of a single nurse's aide at Luther Haven Nursing Home in St. Paul, Minnesota. Five of the six residents have Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia and a female victim with cancer died before the abuse was reported.
The abuse was believed to have gone on for approximately six months before a nursing assistant reported to a supervisor what she had seen in July 2008. Among the complaint allegations, the aide was accused of abusing a resident by lap dancing and sexually tormeting him, screaming and laughing at other residents, purposely upsetting another resident by throwing her prized dolls, whom she considered children, on the floor, and causing extreme physical pain to a resident by poking her finger into a cancerous hole.
The aide, who denied all allegations, was suspended on July 9, 2008 and fired two weeks later. According to information provided by The Grand Forks Herald, the aide allegedly appears to be Maria Josephine Bjerke, 25. Bjerke pleaded guilty on April 13, 2009 to three of six original abuse counts against her for disorderly conduct against vulnerable adults. She admitted wrongdoing against three residents of the facility from late 2006 to mid-2008.
The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect nationwide. Please feel free to contact our office at 1 (888) 317-2525 or visit us at www.nursinghomejustice.com with any questions or concerns you might have.
