Community Corner

AG: Aides Bound, Smothered, Punched 88-Year-Old Nursing Home Patient

A Mount Sinai and a Coram woman face felony assault charges for the alleged attack.

A nurse and a nursing aide are facing felony assault charges for allegedly beating and suffocating an 88-year-old disabled patient at a Port Jefferson nursing home more than a year ago, the state’s attorney general announced Tuesday.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said a grand jury issued an eight-count indictment against Raquel Bouton, a licensed practical nurse from Mt. Sinai, and Laura Harper, a personal care aide from Coram, charging each with second-degree assault, a felony that carries a maximum jail sentence of seven years, in connection with the March 24, 2012 incident at the Woodhaven Adult Home.

Bouton and Harper allegedly tied the patient’s hands together above his head, repeatedly punched him in his torso and held a pillow over his face, smothering him.

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Nursing home surveillance video captured the two women entering and exiting the patient's room at the time of the alleged attack.

Boutan and Harper were also charged with one count of second-degree attempted assault, a felony; a felony count of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person or incompetent or physically disabled person in the second degree; and one count of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and willful violations of health laws, all misdemeanors. 

Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bouton also faces another felony count of falsifying business records in the first degree for writing falsified progress notes to cover up the abuse, the attorney general said.

Harper was first arrested on May 13, 2012 and charged with one felony count of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, or an incompetent or physically disabled person in the second degree.

Ken Gaul, operator and owner of the nursing home, told Patch on Tuesday that Harper and Bouton were suspended long before the indictments and no longer work at Woodhaven.

"We had an allegation come forth, which we investigated and reported immediately," he said.

This is the second incident to surface related to nursing staff at Woodhaven. In May, Schneiderman announced the arrests of two nursing aides who had allegedly taken “abusive and alarming” photos of 11 patients at Woodhaven, Jefferson’s Ferry and the Long Island State Veterans Home.


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