A Bartlesville man faces charges of caretaker abuse after he allegedly abused residents at a Bartlesville nursing home. He later admitted to two cases in Bartlesville and two more cases at a care center in Nowata.
Franklin D. Hughes, Jr., 36, faces charges of two counts of caretaker abuse. During arraignments held Friday afternoon at the Washington County Courthouse, the judge found probable cause for Hughes's arrest and set his bond at $200,000 with a condition of no contact with the alleged victim.
According to the affidavit, both counts allegedly occurred at the Bartlesville Care Center where Hughes worked as a certified nursing assistant.
The report said the first count is believed to have occurred between July 1, 2008 and Aug. 8, 2008 when Hughes allegedly mistreated a 76-year-old patient diagnosed with dementia.
The wife of the alleged victim learned of the abuse on Aug. 8, 2008, when she was visiting him, the man telling his wife he hated Hughes as Hughes walked past his room. Asked why, the resident told his wife Hughes had been "hunching and kissing on him." Bartlesville Care Center Assistant Director of Nursing Ronna Heatherly then spoke with the man who told her that on Aug. 8, 2008 Hughes had taken him to the bathroom and while cleaning him began "hunching" him "kissing him on the cheek and around his mouth," according to the affidavit.
The report said Heatherly verified Hughes was the man's caretaker. An officer returning on August 21 interviewed the alleged victim but found him unable to remember the incident due to his dementia.
The report said the second count of caretaker abuse occurred on Oct. 1, 2009, this time Hughes allegedly trying to perform sex acts with an 83-year-old man -- also diagnosed with dementia.
Reportedly, the man told his pastor that Hughes had asked if he could "get in bed with him, if he could kiss him" and tried to "(expletive) him."
According to the report, the resident then speaking with Heatherly told her the same thing he told his pastor except that Hughes "tried to have sex with me" and added other details relating to the attempted act.
Police returning to the alleged victim to interview him on Oct. 16 found him extremely ill, weak, unresponsive and unable to comprehend their questions.
The same day police questioned Hughes who then denied any inappropriate actions toward the man, saying he only remembered "reaching over him to get a remote." Hughes during the same interview mentioned a similar allegation made against him at the Nowata Nursing Center, said the affidavit.
Police then made contact with Nowata Nursing Center Director Dorothy Scott who gave police a letter addressed to Hughes from the Oklahoma State Department of Health concerning a complaint from a former resident -- who also was diagnosed with dementia -- who said Hughes had "touched him." Whereas the original documents of the complaint were no longer on file, police were provided with supporting documents for a second complaint filed from the same facility against Hughes on Feb. 12, 2009, by a man who then told nursing staff that on two separate occasions Hughes had eithered offered or asked to have sex with him.
The resident filing the complaint later interviewed by the OSDH did not speak of the incidents during the interview and the case was closed. Neither of these cases were reported to local law enforcement, according to the affidavit.
During an interview on Nov. 5, 2009 at the Bartlesville Police Department by OSBI Agent David Real and the investigating officer, Hughes admitted to inappropriate actions with the alleged victims listed in counts one and two as well as with the two alleged victims in Nowata County.
Hughes's next court date is set for Nov. 20.
