Bremerton – Last month three employees were under investigation for taking inappropriate photos with their telephones of residents at nursing home and sending them to each other as a joke. Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge has decided that no charges should be filed because no crime was committed As reported in the Kitsap Sun:

“While it appears they behaved stupidly, it doesn’t appear they committed any crime,” deputy prosecutor Chris Casad said.

Nursing Home Abuse Suspects

A 41-year-old Retsil man along with two Bremerton women, 27 and 26, are the suspects in the case. Nursing home administrators informed Bremerton police Jan. 27 after the suspects allegedly showed the pictures to other staff as a joke. Other staff may get further reprimand after internal investigations for their delays in informing the management of the abuse.

The Nursing Home Reacts

Nursing home administrators reported the abuse to the Bremerton Police Department on Jan. 27. The three employees named in the report have been terminated. The state’s Department of Social and Health Services and Department of Health are conducting their own investigations.

Ashlee Sorber, associate council for Evergreen Health Care of Vancouver, Wash, on behalf of Kitsap Health & Rehabilitation said that the nursing home complied with the law by reporting the alleged abuse to the appropriate agencies,

Nursing home administrators are also conducting their own investigation and “remain committed to quality of care,” she said.

The photographs were taken around the holidays, the suspect said. The suspect has said that he has deleted all of the inappropriate photos of the residents, but witnesses also reported seeing other photographs. The nursing home administrators have said that the residents involved were not unaware that the photos had been taken. All of them with the exception of have severe dementia.

Who Speaks Out For the Victims?

This is a clear violation of the resident’s civil rights. If they had not had dementia, do you think that these people, who grew up in a generation far more concerned about appearance and behavior than today, would have consented to such personal violations? Do you think they would have laughed as if it were a harmless stupid joke like the prosecutor has framed it?

These residents are clearly not being fairly represented by the county or the state. If you or a loved one find yourselves in situation of suspected civil or criminal infraction, contact Phillips Webster for a full consultation on your legal recourse.