WILLIAMSPORT — The former male resident assistant involved in extensive elder abuse while working as a juvenile employee at Heritage Springs Memory Care in Lewisburg was sentenced in Lycoming County Court on Thursday.
The defendant was 17 years old when Buffalo Valley Regional Police said he and an adult co-worker allegedly took numerous nude and demeaning photographs and videos of 17 residents between December 2022 and April 2023 at the assisted living facility at 327 Farley Circle, Lewisburg. Due to being charged as a minor, the court proceedings are not open to the public and The Daily Item does not print the names of juvenile defendants unless charged as an adult.
Lycoming County Judge Ryan M. Tira would not release the sentencing results for the defendant and Lycoming County District Attorney Tom Marino did not return a call from The Daily Item seeking the information.
In November, the unidentified male was adjudicated in Union County Court on 17 of the 34 counts and his disposition was transferred to his home county in Lycoming County. Adjudication for a juvenile is the functional equivalent of being found guilty in an adult criminal procedure. A disposition hearing in juvenile court is akin to a sentencing hearing in adult court.
The defendant is represented by defense attorney Kyle Rude, of Williamsport. The Commonwealth was represented by Assistant District Attorney Eric Birth.
Lynn Fiedler, the daughter of victim Alice Longenberger, said she was disappointed with the results of Thursday’s hearing. She was joined by family, friends and supporters inside and outside the courtroom, some who held signs advocating for justice.
“Was there justice served here today? No,” said Fiedler. “Even if the fullest extent of the law is employed, there would still be no justice. The punishment does not even remotely fit the crime, which is why we started a task force to try to change the laws.”
Fiedler said she is working toward legislative change regarding elder abuse. She has been meeting with state lawmakers to introduce new laws that would put elder abusers on lists like child abusers are placed on lists.
The defendant and Madison Laine Cox, 19, of Pinchtown Road, Montgomery, posed with patients in the shower or on the toilet, took pictures of patients who had defecated themselves or had fallen to the ground and took videos of themselves demeaning or harassing individuals, according to court documents filed by Buffalo Valley Regional Police.
They sent those records to each other, shared them on the phone app SnapChat, and showed them to classmates at a school, police said.
The victims range in age from 72 to 100 years old. The majority of people residing at Heritage Springs are in various stages of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, which limits or severely impedes their cognitive abilities, police said.
Cox is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. Monday in front of Union County Judge Michael Piecuch. Cox pleaded guilty in February to 12 misdemeanors: one count of criminal conspiracy to commit abuse of a care-dependent person and 11 counts of abuse of a care-dependent person.