Glenview Abington Ex-Staffers Plead Guilty To Teasing 91-Year-Old

SKOKIE, IL — Two former aides at a Glenview nursing home pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor charges in connection with a video posted to social media showing them tease a 91-year-old woman with dementia.

Brayan Cortez, 19, of Glenview, and Jamie Montesa, 21, of Mount Prospect, were sentenced to court supervision, community service and ordered not to have any contact with their victim.

In December 2018, the pair recorded a video depicting them taunting a visibly upset elderly woman with a hospital gown as she lay in her bed at the Abington of Glenview, 3901 Glenview Road. The brief Snapchat video was captioned with laughing emojis and the message, "Margaret hates gowns." According to Collins' family and police reports, it was well-known at the nursing home that the dementia patient had a deep fear of being made to wear a hospital gown.

The assisted living facility has not responded to Patch's questions or requests for comment about its handling of the incident or when it terminated the two employees.

But in a statement, Abington representatives said they "acted swiftly" upon first learning of the incident and notified the Illinois Department of Public Health "and other state officials" and suspended the two aides.

"Abuse Coordinator thoroughly investigated by speaking with staff members and residents regarding [Cortez and Montesa,]" according to a report from state public health officials that found Abington failed to implement its own policy by making sure residents are free from emotional abuse inflicted by staff. "After hearing only overly positive comments for both employees, the allegation is concluded to be unsubstantiated."

The nursing home's statement said management "immediately terminated the two nursing assistants after we were able to determine they had violated the facility's policies."

But according to police reports, the aides were suspended for only six days and remained on staff, going back to work on Jan. 3, 2019. Collins' family had obtained a copy of the video from an undisclosed source and notified Glenview police on the same day the suspension began.

On Jan. 8, Cortez and Montesa, who were dating at the time, spoke to a Glenview detective, according to police. Montesa explained there was an "ongoing inside joke about the hospital gowns," which Collins would complain about being too dirty. She admitted recording a Snapchat video and that Collins appeared uncomfortable. Cortez said he and Collins were "joking with each other about the gown" and he did not mean any harm. They were both taken into custody that day. Prosecutors decided against filing felony charges of unlawful recording.

At some point after their arrest they were apparently fired, although Abington has declined to specify when. Cortez's employment was confirmed by the Illinois Department of Public Health on Jan. 7. Montesa's last employment verification was Aug. 13. As of two days after their guilty pleas, both Cortez and Montesa remained listed as eligible to work by IDPH.

Appearing before Cook County Circuit Judge Jack Hagerty on Monday in Skokie, Cortez pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in exchange for a sentence of 18 months of court supervision and 100 hours of community service. He admitted that he "knowingly and intentionally alarmed and disturbed 91-year-old Margaret Collins by continuously waving a hospital gown in Collins' face in a teasing manner while he was attending to her as a CNA while she resided at the Abington of Glenview in an assisted living facility." Hagerty sentenced Montesa to one year of supervision and 50 hours of community service in exchange for her guilty plea to one count of attempted unauthorized recording.

Joan Biebel, Collins' daughter, called the taunting and bullying of her mother a "disturbing and cruel act" in a statement following the guilty plea.

"Now it's time for the Abington to answer for allowing a culture where workers were able to have cell phones not only while working but also in residents' rooms, and enabling this sick form of entertainment by their unsupervised staff," Biebel said, referencing a civil lawsuit filed on her mother's behalf seeking more than $1 million in damages from the nursing home and its former employees.

The 18-count complaint alleges the Abington violated the Nursing Home Care Act and was guilty to negligence and privacy violations, among other things. The attorney who filed the suit said the nursing home only submitted a state-mandated report of abuse after Cortez and Montesa confessed and were arrested.

In its three most recent inspections, investigators from the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services documented 15 deficiencies at Abington of Glenview.

They included the presence of rodents, failing to maintain safe food temperatures, improperly leaving a controlled substance out in an unlocked refrigerator, nursing aides not knocking before entering rooms and not properly cleaning residents who soiled themselves, according to inspection reports from Jan. 28, 2018, Sept. 4, 2018, and Feb. 19, 2019.

The lawyer who represented the two nursing aides told Pioneer Press his clients were "good people" who apologized sincerely and feel horrible for how their behavior affected others. He said Montesa faced a maximum sentence of one year in the Cook County Department of Corrections and Cortez could have been jailed for up to 30 days.

"Given the backlash that they were facing when the case went public," Sami Azhari told Pioneer Press. "I thought that the sentence was fair."

The Glenview Journal reported there may be additional victims among Abington residents. Collins has since been moved to another facility but continues to suffer nightmares from the incident, according to her family.

Earlier: Abington Glenview Staff Mocked, Abused 91-Year-Old Woman: Lawsuit