CASPER — A 50-year-old woman accused to tying a patient’s head to a bed at a local nursing care facility made her first court appearance Wednesday, and was released on a personal recognizance bond.
Julie Ann Cross appeared in the courtroom before Casper Circuit Court Judge Nichole Collier after responding to a summons on charges of abuse and imprisonment.
Collier read her the charges she faces, which include intentional abuse, neglect or abandonment of a vulnerable adult and false imprisonment. Collier asked if Cross had any questions about the charges.
“No, ma’am,” she replied.
The charges Cross faces followed a Casper Police Department investigation that began July 14 after police were called to the NOWCAP Services facility in the 300 block of North Walsh Avenue by a director at the agency.
The director had investigated a report from Cross’ coworkers about her alleged abuse of a patient.
The judge asked Cross if she was working anywhere.
Cross told the judge that she is “unemployed currently.” The judge appointed a public defender in the case.
Natrona County Assistant District Attorney Patrick LeBrun asked the court for a $3,000 unsecured bond.
Collier agreed to grant Cross a personal recognizance bond and said a preliminary hearing would be set for the charges.
The two charges against Cross stem from her alleged actions while working the early morning shift on July 14.
When morning coworkers at the NOWCAP facility went into a patient's room, they found a 54-year-old woman’s hair tied to a bed with a scarf. The woman had been cared for by Cross.
Police Interviews
Police interviews with Cross’ coworkers revealed that one of the workers had tried to roll the patient over to pull up her pants. But she saw that she could not roll the patient because a blue scarf in the patient’s hair was tied to the bed.
A colleague joined her, and then Cross allegedly came into the room and attempted to push the first worker to the side while reaching for the scarf, according to the affidavit.
The worker asked Cross why she tied the woman with the scarf, and the worker told police that Cross replied, “It was to keep (the patient) from moving.”
The affidavit states that Cross left the room and the second care worker spent five minutes getting the scarf untied from the patient’s hair.
The coworker who untied the scarf told police while in the room with her colleague before untying it, Cross came in and said the patient’s hair was “matted and smelt,” the affidavit says.
Cross then asked if her hair was “tangled again on her bed as it had been getting tangled throughout the night.”
During an interview by phone, Cross reportedly told the officer that she was the solo worker on the night shift, the affidavit says.
Early on July 14, the patient was awake and tossing her head back and forth, Cross said, adding that the patient needed to be changed and her hair “smelt.”
So, she tied it with one of the patient’s silky scarves into a ponytail and said that the “rest of the scarf was on the pillow.”
Scarf ‘Had Fallen’
According to the affidavit, Cross said she checked on the patient later in the early morning hours and found the end of the scarf had “fallen and wrapped around the bed.”
She said she put the end of the scarf back on the bed next to the resident and during another check, it had not moved.
“Morning staff came in and she told them about the scarf and how it had gotten wrapped around the corner of the bed,” the affidavit states Cross told the officer. “She believes that (the patient) was tossing her head side-to-side and the scarf got wrapped around again.”
During his investigation July 14, the officer had the morning care worker show him how the scarf was physically tied to the bed.
The NOWCAP Services director also provided the officer with an “in-depth report on the incident and photographic evidence taken while the scarf was still tied to (the patient) and the bed,” the affidavit states.
The charge of intentional abuse, neglect, or abandonment of a vulnerable adult is a felony that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The false imprisonment charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
