Former Employee Sentenced For Stealing From Elmhurst Senior Living Facility Residents

ELMHURST, IL — A former assisted living employee was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty on 11 counts of residential burglary. Eugene Dorsey, 31, of Chicago, stole items from the homes of residents of an Elmhurst senior living facility he worked for in 2015.

Elmhurst Police first began their investigation in November 2015, after items, including jewelry, were reported missing from a resident’s home in the independent living side of Park Place senior living facility, according to a release. The facility is divided into an independent living side and an assisted living side.

According to DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, the investigation revealed that on several occasions between Nov. 4 and Nov. 25, 2015, Dorsey, a nurse’s assistant, entered at least 11 residents’ homes, all located on the independent living side of the facility, and stole items from the residents including rings, bracelets and necklaces. Dorsey then pawned the stolen items. Dorsey worked strictly on the assisted living side of the facility and should not have been present on the independent living side.

“Thinking only of himself, Mr. Dorsey stole thousands of dollars worth of valuables, many of which held significant sentimental value, from his victims,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a release. “The fact that all of his victims are more than eighty years old and had placed a tremendous amount of trust in Mr. Dorsey, makes his crimes particulary appalling. As one of society’s most vulnerable populations, our seniors deserve our love and respect. They do not deserve to have their valuables stolen from them and pawned."

Dorsey will be required to serve 50 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

Photo provided by DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.