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Facebook site reveals different side of one suspect
Published Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The young women facing adult criminal charges connected to alleged abuse at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea were active at Albert Lea High School but an Internet site shines a different light on the personality of one of the two women.
Brianna Marie Broitzman, 19, the first of the two adults charged in the case, is a former student at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City. According to the school, she no longer attends. She was a former member of the Albert Lea High School dance team, according to the ALHS 2008 yearbook.
Her Facebook.com page features photos of memorable high school experiences such as Homecoming, school football games, prom and graduation, but there were also pictures of Broitzman and her friends with beer and pizza and bumper stickers about drinking and sex.
On the Web site, she could be seen in photographs with friends playing what they called “Pin the Junk on the Hunk,” similar to pin the tail on the donkey but with male genitalia.
Ashton Larson, 18, the second of the two adults charged in the case was a sports anchor for many of Albert Lea High School’s “Tiger Vision” shows, according to the yearbook.
The two were indicted Monday for charges ranging from mandated failure to report suspected abuse to criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult and assault in the fifth degree.
Broitzman has been charged with three counts of assault in the fifth degree of a caregiver to a vulnerable adult, three counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult, three counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, one instance of disorderly conduct by a caregiver, and one instance of mandated reporter failure to report.
Larson has been charged with two counts of assault in the fifth degree of a caregiver to a vulnerable adult, one count of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult, four counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, two counts of disorderly conduct by a caregiver and one count of mandated reporter failure to report.
The charges were filed by the Freeborn County Attorney’s Office. They are based on an investigation by the Albert Lea Police Department and the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office that stemmed from abuse allegations earlier this year.
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Posted by Minniepede (anonymous) on December 2, 2008 at 2:12 p.m.
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Posted by demo1960 (anonymous) on December 2, 2008 at 4:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh to be a proud parent of these girls. Their pictures are posted on the smoking gun website along with the State Department of Health report. And now to find out what is in their facebook pages. Haven't these young people figured out that what is posted online will be there forever. A simple search on a name will reveal much. I don't think parents should allow any children under the age of 18 to post anythink on myspace or facebook. Or make sure you check it out often. I hope these girls have a real tough time getting any type of respectable job for a long time to come. Doesn't sound like our county attorney is to anxious to punish them accordingly. They certainly should be mandated to attend some kind of sensitivity training and have mental health evaluations. If even one of these girls has no empathy for those vunerable adults and is found to suffer from a personality disorder she needs to be barred from ever serving in any kind of care position. It is one thing to participate due to peer pressure or not report this kind of behaivor but to actually enjoy it. Yikes.
Posted by badjuju (anonymous) on December 2, 2008 at 4:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
She sounds like such a sweetheart, maybe we are being too hard on her...... yea right
Posted by Gladys (anonymous) on December 2, 2008 at 8:14 p.m.
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Posted by nisperos (anonymous) on December 2, 2008 at 11:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Neither this article nor the other article in this paper discusses what appears to potentially also have been a violation of patient confidentiality.
If the abuse itself wasn't serious enough, discussing and talking about patients in any identifiable way out of the health care setting (and in the health care setting when not related to care such as by joking about specific patients on breaks) can be punishable by both civil and criminal penalties.
I hope that family members of those who were allegedly abused and whose privacy was also violated will file an additional complaint with the Office of Civil Rights. Here's how:
HOW TO FILE A HEALTH INFORMATION PRIVACY COMPLAINT WITH THE OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacyhowtofile....
Here's another site which may be of interest:
Office for Civil Rights - HIPAA Medical Privacy - National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/
I'd also like to see the OIG get involved in this case. For example, in the HHS OIG Semiannual Report to Congress in Spring 2008 (October 1, 2007 - March 31, 2008): http://www.oig.hhs.gov/publications/docs...
OIG has the authority to impose administrative sanctions for instances of fraud or abuse or other activities that pose a risk to Federal health care programs and their beneficiaries. These sanctions include the exclusion of individuals and entities from participating in Federal health care programs... During this reporting period, OIG administered 1,330 sanctions in the form of program exclusions or administrative actions for alleged fraud or abuse or other activities that posed a risk to Federal health care programs and their beneficiaries. Details and examples of these sanctions included:
■ Utah: J. Jesus Partida, a certified nurse aide, was excluded for a minimum period of 20 years based on his conviction related to patient abuse or neglect. For over 1 year, Partida sexually abused elderly patients suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease at the care center where he was employed. Partida was sentenced to an indeterminate term of from 5 years to life in prison.
Posted by kellid (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 12:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
hmmmm the Austin paper listed FOUR names.... why does this one only list the two???
http://www.austindailyherald.com/news/20...
Posted by nisperos (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 12:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder if this group of young women are from the same crowd who made fun of students with disabilities at their high school?
I don't want to see them EVER working with any group of vulnerable individuals. Don't just keep them out of the medical and allied health fields, but also keep them out of educational settings, day care settings, youth recreation programs, social services, senior programs, and church programs where they would be directly working with vulnerable populations.
Not only do these women appear to have been abusers, the ring leaders (rather than the ones who failed to report) appear to possibly have been bullies who socially kept the others in line; queen bees in the pecking order.
Sorry folks, but they will probably show up as sales leaders, real estate agents, or team leaders at your high tech firm...
Posted by nisperos (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 12:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
@ kellid 12:18
The reason other papers and other blogs are giving out 4 names is because 2 suspects who were minors at the time of the offenses are now of legal age. The others who are unnamed are still minors.
I can't believe that the women probably won't serve jail time, especially given that the offenses appear to have been multiple, egregious, pre-planned, at least some were done for an audience, and the stories were re-told for laughs and bragging rights.
Just like when school staff abuse students, abusers come in all types. For example, the very limited research on teachers who abuse suggests that in the elementary years, the abusers can actually "work" to get in a position to abuse and have the victim(s) not be believed. What this means is that the abuser is often popular and may have gotten awards for "best teacher of the year" or "most liked teacher". In later school years, abuse of students seems to be more a crime of opportunity, so that the abuser may be a person on the school staff who is tops, average, or a poor performer, but usually a person who has time alone with students. I wonder which pattern is followed by those who abuse vulnerable individuals in nursing homes or assisted living settings?
Posted by nisperos (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 1:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Report Number: H5441019
Status: SUBSTANTIATED
Concluded On: 08/05/2008
Complaint Description: PHYSICAL ABUSE BY STAFF, EMOTIONAL ABUSE BY STAFF
View File (15 page pdf): http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fpc/d...
Posted by dolphin (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I know all of these girls and they are all 18 now, its kind of easy to figure out when certain people all got fired at the same time. All there names should be put in the paper. They all make me sick to my stomach.
Posted by atprm_bbs (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 1:51 p.m.
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