CALGARY – Three Calgary nursing home workers have been sentenced to 60 days in jail for abusing a 92-year-old man.
A judge sentenced Maria Teresa Dumo, May Casimero, and Angelina Borja to 60 days in jail Wednesday. All three had previously pleaded guilty to assault.
Ulrich Wissner was a resident at CareWest Garrison Green in southwest Calgary for three years.
In the fall of 2013, Wissner told his family that staff at the seniors home were hurting him. He pleaded with his sons not to leave him alone.
His son, Peter Wissner, broke down as he described the heartbreaking turn of events.
“It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anybody,” he said. “We never imagined it was true, my brother and I discussed putting a camera in, and our intention was to be able to have confirmation that everybody was treating him well.”
In February of 2014, his sons went ahead with their plan, and set up a hidden camera in Wissner’s room.
Over a period of four days, there were several incidents of abuse by three women caught on tape.
The CCTV video shows the women making lewd gestures, slapping, flicking water at, and threatening to pour urine on Wissner, who died a month later.
Court heard that Wissner was bedridden, physically frail, and had cancer.
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“It’s hard. I watched the video again last night,” said Peter. “It’s going to get deleted now; I don’t think I need to see it ever again.”
The Wissner family says they feel the sentence is fair, and that they were just hoping for some period of incarceration.
“This is a precedent-setting sentence, so hopefully in the future we’ll have more accountability for these kinds of cases,” Hans Wissner said of the sentence for his father’s abusers.
Peter said people need to pay extra attention to the care their loved ones are receiving.
“Be vigilant and trust the people that are telling you things. For a little while, we didn’t want to believe it.”
“We still have to find out whether the system is going to act or whether they have acted on some of the recommendations. There was a report by the Protection for Persons in Care investigation, and I’m not sure at this point if any of those actions have been followed through on.”
Dumo, Casimero, and Borja have been out on bail and will begin serving intermittent sentences on weekends starting Oct. 30. The women will be on probation for one year.
Wissner’s family said the senior lived the last months of his life feeling afraid, helpless and angry, instead of comfortable and safe.
With files from The Canadian Press
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