Former Prince George's County Caregiver Found Guilty of Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult

BALTIMORE, MD ( July 22, 2010) -Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Mary Arung, 40, of the 14000 block of 4th Street in Laurel, was found guilty of abuse of a vulnerable adult for kicking and hitting a woman with Down syndrome while the woman was in Arung’s care. Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Maureen Lamasney scheduled sentencing for September 24, 2010.

Arung was a counselor at the Center for Social Change, an organization that provides support services to individuals with developmental disabilities. On November 18, 2008 Arung took the victim to a doctor’s appointment in Greenbelt. When leaving the doctor’s office, the victim refused to enter the van. Arung screamed at the victim and then began to hit and kick her on the back and head. A citizen saw the abuse and intervened, preventing the victim from suffering serious injury.

The case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and Maryland State Police in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorney General Catherine Schuster Pascale and Agent Robert Mosley of Health and Human Services for their work on this case.