FORMER RESIDENTIAL COUNSELOR GUILTY OF ABUSING VULNERABLE ADULT

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Cora Showell, a former residential counselor for the Worcester County Developmental Center, pleaded guilty to abuse of a vulnerable adult in connection with an incident in which she repeatedly slammed a developmentally disabled adult into a chair.

Showell, 36, of the 500 block of 509 Bay Street in Berlin, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of abuse of a vulnerable adult, and was sentenced by the Honorable Thomas C. Groton, III to serve 18 months incarceration, with all but 10 days of that period suspended, followed by two years of supervised probation. She will serve the 10 days during five consecutive weekends, beginning on December 10th, 2004. The judge also prohibited Showell from working as a caregiver in the healthcare field during the term of probation.

According to the statement of facts presented by the State, the victim, who is severely developmentally disabled, was a resident of a group home located in Berlin, Maryland. Showell admitted to a State investigator that on April 13, 2004, she became annoyed about the way the victim was acting after being told he couldn’t have a banana. In response, she repeatedly slammed the victim into a wooden chair, causing significant bruising to the victim’s back, chest, and side. The injuries were later discovered by the caregiver who came on duty after Showell’s shift ended.

This case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which has authority to prosecute abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults in Medicaid-funded facilities. Assistance with the investigation was provided by the Berlin Police Department.

#