Bancroft Psych Aides Abused Disabled Man: Authorities

Two women employed as psych aides at Bancroft Neurohealth in Mt. Laurel forced a urine soaked towel onto the face of a physically disabled man they were caring for last year, authorities claim.

They also hit him in the face, twisted his hand and wrist and forcefully restrained him to his bed, the New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor said on Monday.

Now, 25-year-old Martha Ruiz and 24-year-old Kendall Crouch, of Clementon, are charged with physically abusing the man who was under their car at the facility for developmentally disabled adults and children on June 1, 2018, authorities announced.

Both women were charged with third-degree conspiracy, third-degree neglect of a disabled person and fourth-degree endangering another person.

It was one of three abuse cases brought against employees at residential care facilities on Monday.
In the second indictment, a woman is accused of stealing approximately $20,530 from an elderly nursing home resident over whom she had power of attorney.

Karissa-Anne Frannicola, 29, of Caldwell, was charged with theft by failure to make disposition of property received and misapplication of entrusted property in connection with thefts that occurred between April and August 2017.

In the third indictment, a woman accused of assuming a false identity to work as a Certified Nurse Aide at the Barnegat Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Barnegat in November 2018.

Christine Sanford, 31, of Atlantic City, assumed the identity of another CNA to obtain work at the facility because her own Nurse Aide certification had been revoked by the New Jersey Department of Health in 2017 after she was found unqualified for certification pursuant to State law, according to authorities.

Sanford is charged with forgery, identify theft, and uttering of false government documents.
All three cases stem from investigations conducted by OIFP’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (“MFCU”), which receives federal funding to investigate and prosecute Medicaid provider fraud as well as the abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients, or patients who reside in facilities that receive Medicaid funding.