Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) today marked World Elder Abuse Awareness Day by announcing indictments against three certified nurse aides accused of physically abusing patients in the residential care facilities where they worked.
Cairy Chrisphonte, 54, of Union, Debra L. Matela, 44, of Turnersville, and Danny Brown, 55, of Easton, Pa., are the latest individuals to be prosecuted in the OIFP’s ongoing crackdown on elder abuse.
The indictments of Chrisphonte, Matela, and Brown 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
Medicaid patients, or patients who reside in facilities that receive Medicaid funding.
Historically, MFCU actions have centered on financial exploitation cases, but in recent months the office has turned greater attention to the physical abuse of institutionalized patients. The latest actions involve three Certified Nurse Aides (CNAs) indicted last week:
Cairy Chrisphonte - Indicted June 8 on a charge of fourth-degree assault upon an institutionalized elderly person after co-workers allegedly witnessed her striking an 87-year-old dementia patient in the head and arm at the Daughters of Miriam nursing home in Clifton in January.
Danny Brown – Indicted June 8 on third-degree charges of making terroristic threats and endangering another person after co-workers allegedly witnessed him punching and threatening to break the neck of a patient at the Lopatcong Care Center in Lopatcong. The patient, a 53-year-old man confined to a wheelchair, suffers from cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and congenital hydrocephaly (an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.)
Debra Matela – Indicted June 6 on a charge of third-degree aggravated assault after a surveillance camera at the Northbrook Behavioral Health Hospital in Blackwood purportedly captured her deliberately causing a 73-year-old woman to fall out of her wheelchair in February.
According to prosecutors, Matela deliberately kicked the wheelchair out from under the woman, who resides in the facility’s geriatric mental health ward, causing her to fall and hit her head.
Chrisphonte, Brown, and Matela have all been fired and stripped of their professional credentials as a result of the abuse charges.
Other health care employees facing assault charges in OIFP’s crackdown on patient abuse are Registered Nurse Dorothea Harvilik and CNA Adeline Philippe.
Harvilik, 64, of Saddle River, was indicted April 3 on a charge of fourth-degree assault on a disabled person after a hidden-camera video purportedly showed her slapping and roughly treating a ventilator-dependent, paralyzed patient she was hired to care for in his home in November 2016.
Philippe, 47, of Orange was indicted February 22 on a charge of fourth-degree assault on an institutionalized elderly person for allegedly striking and scratching a 76-year-old dementia patient under her care at the New Jersey Fireman’s Home in Boonton in August 2016.
In November 2016, the State Board of Nursing, within the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, permanently revoked Harvilik’s nursing license, after viewing the video of her striking the bed-bound patient.
In October 2016 the State Department of Health (DOH), which regulates CNAs, summarily suspended Philippe’s CNA certification, after her employer fired her and notified the Department about the alleged abuse.
The DOH summarily suspended Chrisphonte’s CNA certification on March 20, after she was fired by the nursing home and criminally charged.
Matela’s CNA certification was summarily suspended by DOH following her arrest on February 26. The State Board of Nursing also suspended her certification as a Certified Homemaker-Home Health Aide.
Brown was immediately suspended and ultimately fired as a result of the alleged patient assault. His CNA certification was summarily suspended by DOH following his indictment last week.
The indictments are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000. Fourth-degree crimes carry a sentence of up to eighteen months in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $5,000.
People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit a reward to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.