Glenview Nursing Home Assistants Plead Guilty After Taunting 91-Year-Old Patient While Recording For Snapchat
SKOKIE, Ill. (CBS) -- Two Glenview nursing assistants pleaded guilty Monday to taunting a 91-year-old woman and Snapchatting the abuse.
Certified nursing assistants Brayan Cortez and Jamie Montesa were arrested on misdemeanor charges after the video was posted last December.
The victim, Margaret Collins, suffers from dementia, and does not like hospital gowns. The staff at her nursing home knew that – and allegedly used it as fuel to taunt and terrorize her.
In the video, Cortez allegedly waves a hospital gown at Collins as Montesa, his girlfriend and coworker, filmed. The caption reads, "Margaret hates gowns," with two laughing emojis.
Cortez told police it was an "ongoing inside joke."
But Collins' daughter, Joan Biebel, noted that her mother was waving her hands in fear. Collins told investigators she feared Cortez "may force her to put it on."
"She's like a little bird. She's a little person. She's, you know, very frail – like, what are you doing?" Biebel told CBS 2's Charlie De Mar earlier this month.
Appearing Monday before Judge Jack Hagerty at the Cook County courthouse in Skokie, Cortez pleaded guilty Monday to disorderly conduct and received a sentence of 18 months' supervision and 100 hours of community service. Montesa pleaded guilty to attempted unauthorized recording and received a sentence of one year supervision and 50 hours of community service.
Both were also ordered to stay away from Collins, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's office.
Meanwhile, the Abington of Glenview nursing home where the abuse happened is the defendant in a lawsuit filed on Collins' behalf.
The lawsuit accused the Abington of violating the Nursing Home Care Act, HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), and state privacy laws.
The Illinois Department of Public Health determined the Abington failed to implement its "abuse prevention policy," resulting in Collins feeling "degradation and shame."
The Abington announced late Monday that both Cortez and Montesa have been fired.
Collins has since been moved to another facility.