POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. -- Public records are revealing new insight into Essene Home, an assisted living facility in Powhatan County, after its owner, manager, and administrator were each charged on Tuesday with two misdemeanor counts of abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults.
Deputies said the facility did not refill or give two residents their medication for weeks, but the facility's owner, Clarence Lewis, denied those claims.
The Essene Home, which has been in operation for more than 35 years, currently houses 26 residents with intellectual disabilities and mental health disorders, including patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Deputies confirmed 2022 court records that showed a former administrator of facility, the owner's daughter, was convicted of embezzlement and identify theft of a resident.
Lewis said he told deputies when he found out what was going on.
“She had some emotional problems and she got connected with the wrong people and she got in trouble," Lewis said. "I didn’t know anything about it."
The facility has had 174 total calls for service over the last 5 years, according to officials with the sheriff’s office.
Nearly all of those calls were for reports of a missing person, unknown emergencies, assaults, welfare checks,and assist calls, deputies said.
Additionally, deputies said residents have been routinely found wandering the streets and then ending up on neighbors' porches.
“It scares me as a law enforcement officer," Detective Danny Joyner with the Powhatan Sheriff’s Office said. "With their mental capacity, and finding that they're not on their medication or not taking their medications, they're not mentally stable. They could easily get hit by a car, they could be taken advantage of. They could become lost, never be found.”
However, Lewis maintained that residents can go for walks and said that the facility cannot restrain them.
"If a client wants to leave, they can leave," Lewis said. "We can't stop them. We have no physical control over anybody."
Officials with the sheriff’s office said that as an assisted living facility, Essene Home accepts responsibility for its residents, according to state regulations.
As a result, administrators are are supposed to collect patient histories before they accept new residents. They are then obligated to provide a secure area for residents to walk and exercise, deputies said.
“It puts them in a very vulnerable situation when they're not being taken care of properly,” Joyner said.
WTVR CBS 6 has reached out to the Department of Social Services regarding how it handles facilities with multiple violations, but we are still waiting to hear back. Will will update this story with their response.
Lewis and the two other employees facing charges are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
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