BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Two Brevard County healthcare workers are facing elder abuse charges.
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Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a press conference Friday that they live-streamed themselves shouting at and making fun of a patient with dementia who they were assigned to care for at a senior living facility.
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According to arrest affidavits, Shy’Tonia Bishop, 20, and Jada Harris, 18, cared for the patient at Market Street Memory Care.
The report said on April 3, Harris opened her Snapchat account on her phone and filmed her and Bishop while they verbally abused the patient.
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In one video clip sent to police by an anonymous citizen, the nursing assistants repeatedly called the patient an “embarrassment” while using the bathroom.
Both women were arrested for video voyeurism and abusing a disabled adult or elderly person.
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Harris faces a charge of illegal interception of communication.
Investigators said the facility contacted police as soon as they knew of the incident.
Market Street Memory Care provided Channel 9 with the following statement:
“On Friday, April 7th, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office arrested two former employees of Market Street Viera.
In addition to being terminated, former employees Jada Harris and Shy’tonia Bishop have been charged with illegal interception of communication, abuse of an elderly or disabled adult without great harm, and video voyeurism.
We are shocked and horrified to learn of this incident of elder abuse at the hands of two individuals who were trusted to provide care for a vulnerable resident of our facility.
We take this situation very seriously and took immediate action to terminate the two individuals involved in this incident.
The behavior depicted in the video footage live streamed by these two people is abhorrent and will not be tolerated.
Our mission is to welcome, care, and serve our elders.
Our facility should stand as a beacon of quality senior living, where a sense of family is created by servant leaders.
What occurred in this incident goes against our facility standards in every possible way.
We are working with the family of the victim and are providing support and resources to them at this difficult time.
We are grateful to report that the victim did not suffer any physical injuries, and is being provided with every comfort and care.
We are also fully cooperating with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Wayne Ivey in their investigation.
We will continue to do so throughout the legal process.
We want to assure our residents, their families, and the community at large that we are reviewing every aspect of this incident to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.
This incident is a reminder that there is still so much work to be done to protect our most vulnerable elderly or disabled citizens.
We will be working closely with local and state officials to address these issues. Our hearts go out to the victim and her family, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that justice is served.”
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