A 47-year-old Swartz Creek woman has pleaded no contest to an abuse charge stemming from the severe bruising of a Brandon Township group home resident nearly a year ago.
Crystal Charlotte Overall pleaded no contest Feb. 5 to the charges of vulnerable adult abuse, third degree, as well as felony habitual offender, second offense, in front of Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Shalina D. Kumar. Sentencing is set for 10:30 a.m., March 11.
Oakland County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Derek Meinecke said although the high misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, Overall will likely receive two years of probation. He will request that she not be allowed to work with anyone not in a position to protect themselves.
‘It’s obviously a very sad situation when you have someone in such a vulnerable position injured in the way they were by the person who is caring for them,? he said. ‘To have this happen is very distressing.?
According to police and Michigan Department of Human Services reports, bruising was found on the inner thighs of a 26-year-old, severely mentally retarded resident of the Granger Home, an adult foster care group home on Granger Road where Overall was employed, on March 27.
An employee of a Waterford school the resident attends found ‘very large? purple and red bruises in which fingerprints were clearly visible on the male victim’s thighs when she was changing his clothes. She notified other school employees and they documented the bruises with photographs. When one employee lightly placed her fingers over the bruises, the victim, who is mostly non-verbal, flinched.
DHS was notified and a social worker and Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Detective Chris Pacholski went to the Granger Home to interview employees, where they learned that Overall was working a double shift the night of March 26. According to reports, Overall said she was giving the victim a shower when he began falling off the shower chair. She grabbed him by the thighs to keep him from falling, she said, and admitted that she ‘applied too much pressure to his thighs.?
Another employee who had been the first to observe the bruises the following morning, said Overall did not respond to her when she asked how the bruises occurred. Nor did Overall make a written report when the bruising occurred. The home’s manager said in interviews she did not think the bruising could have been accidental and said the victim is very cooperative and also very small, about 4 feet in height and weighing only 68 pounds. Overall was suspended immediately, and later terminated from the home, where she had been employed since June 2003.
Police learned Overall was previously suspended from the Seymour Lake Home in Oxford after a resident fell backward into a television and hurt her head.
Overall also has a previous criminal history. She had a felony fraud warrant from California in 2002 and had a count of perjury dismissed in furtherance of justice. She also has a felony conviction for fraud to obtain aid from 1995.
‘This will go on her record and I would be surprised if a reputable group home would hire someone with this on their record,? Meinecke said. ‘There are so few voices speaking out for individuals in such a situation as (the victim). Who is championing their cause? You hope on a day-to-day basis they can have an enjoyable and pain- and harassment-free life. He was injured on (Overall’s) watch and she’s being held accountable.?
Meinecke recommends that consumers be educated about the group homes in which they are placing loved ones.
Records of homes can be reviewed at the DHS website www.michigan.gov/dhslicensing and Deborah Wood, Michigan DHS division director for adult foster care and home for the aged licensing, suggests that consumers visit potential homes, meet with staff and ask questions.