FORMER HOUSE MANAGER CHARGED WITH ABUSING A VULNERABLE ADULT

J. Joseph Curran Jr. announced today that a former house manager at a group home for developmentally disabled individuals, Phyllis Fakuade, has been charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult and assault in connection with a June 24, 2004 incident in which she is alleged to have placed a vulnerable adult face down on the floor, placed her knee in the victim’s back and pulled up on the victim’s arms for several minutes.

Fakuade, 41, of the 6600 block of Parr Avenue in Randallstown was employed at Netcon & Earthkins, Inc. which operated a group home in Baltimore County. She was charged with one count of second degree criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult and one count of second degree assault. Trial is set in the District Court for Baltimore County for June 20, 2005.

Intentional abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults by a caregiver is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in jail and/or a $5,000 fine. Second degree assault is a misdemeanor punishable by not more than ten years in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. A criminal information is an accusation and all persons are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which has the authority to prosecute abuse or neglect of vulnerable adults in Medicaid-funded facilities.

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