Teen Pleads Guilty in Nursing Home Incidents

In Carlton, Minnesota, the juvenile at the head of the mission to dump ice water on residents at nursing homes has pleaded guilty to felony stalking charges. The boy led other youth to go into Sunnyside Nursing Home in Cloquet, Minn, and committed the act on three occasions.

His sentence is to stay at a juvenile detention center for one year. He began his stay last weekend, and following that he will be on probation for three years. The sixteen year old has apologized to one of the victims' families.

After describing how he thought their "screaming and freaking out" was "ridiculously funny", he was tested by mental health professionals.

Victims included a 90 year old woman. An Administrator at the nursing home stressed that the nursing home had an open door policy intended to encourage visitors, and that that has been used against them. With regard to the fact that they came back repeatedly, he said, "That frightens me very much."

The first act was committed last summer, and he returned in December and January to repeat the offense. Nursing home staff were unable to catch them as they ran laughing from the building. The use of a license plate number was finally used to locate the perpetrator.

Originally the teen had pleaded not guilty. In stalking cases, the stalkers are often men and the victims are often women. Usually the stalker knows their victim. In this case there was no prior motivation for the incidents.

Two other juveniles were involved in the incidents, and have been charged. Both of them are from Proctor, Minnesota.

The National Center on Elder Abuse defines physical abuse as "Inflicting, or threatening to inflict, physical pain or injury on a vulnerable elder, or depriving them of a basic need". They state that elder abuse laws vary from state to state. Legislation is being introduced nationally which will help stop elder abuse.

The use of security cameras in nursing homes is controversial, with some for and some against. Their use can be very expensive, deterring nursing home owners from installing them. Dubbed "granny cams", they are typically favored by those wanting to monitor the care their loved ones are receiving.

Cloquet is a town in Carlton County of northeastern Minnesota, with a population of less than 12,000 at the last census.

http://www.kare11.com/news/ts_article.aspx?storyid=245328

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1190438.html

http://www.elderabusecenter.org/default.cfm?p=faqs.cfm#six

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloquet,_Minnesota

http://ezinearticles.com/?Security-Cameras-in-Nursing-Homes---Useful-or-Wasteful?&id=528382

http://www.criminal-law-lawyer-source.com/terms/stalking.html