About 50 area residents voiced their opinions of frustration, confusion and even anger Thursday evening about the allegations of abuse at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea.

After meeting with Wes Bledsoe, the founder and president of a nationally known watchdog group for nursing homes called A Perfect Cause, the residents indicated they were willing to stand and speak out for the people they love who have lived, may still live or may someday live in a nursing home who may allegedly be suffering from abuse.

“Someone has got to speak up for these people,” said Bledsoe, of Oklahoma. “We can improve long-term care.”

On Dec. 1, Albert Lea High School graduates Brianna Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Larson, 18, were charged in Freeborn County District Court with allegations of abuse, including criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult and assault in the fifth degree, stemming from alleged instances earlier this year. Four juveniles also were charged with mandatory failure to report suspected abuse.

The details of the allegations surfaced after the release of a Minnesota Department of Health report in August that concluded four teenagers were involved in verbal, sexual and emotional abuse of 15 residents at the nursing home in Albert Lea over a span of five months. The residents suffered from mental degradation conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Bledsoe appeared on NBC’s “Today” Show Dec. 4 to speak out about the case, and he said ever since he did that, he has received hundreds of calls and e-mails from people across the country and in Albert Lea.

He decided to come to Albert Lea because he’s heard a lot of frustration and a lot of anger. However, the room at the Albert Lea Inn had many empty seats. He wants people to know that this instance of alleged abuse is not an isolated one around the country, he said. This case is showing the nation that “if something like this can happen in a town like Albert Lea it can happen anywhere across the country.”

He said he was willing to be an advocate for people in any way he can.

During the meeting, a handful of people voiced their concerns about past incidents that have happened in a nursing home that they did not feel were filed properly to the state. Bledsoe said he would help these people file the proper paperwork.

Jan Reshatar, the daughter-in-law of an alleged victim in the alleged abuse case at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea, said what has happened to her mother-in-law has been one of the most difficult things her family has had to endure.

“We have to stand up for the people we love,” Reshatar said.

This is Albert Lea’s chance to show the rest of America how a case like this one should be taken care of, she said.

Reshatar is the first family member of an alleged victim in the case to come forward to the public and to the media.

During the meeting, people also talked about of some concerns with Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson and the administration of the local Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea.

One man who lived in the Good Samaritan facility in 2007, said he can’t figure out how the nursing home’s administration could let something like this abuse go for as long as it allegedly did without knowing anything.

Bledsoe echoed a similar comment.

“I hold the facility accountable for what happened,” he said. “How could these things have happened without anyone knowing?”

He talked of an instance in the Minnesota Department of Health report where it mentions one employee telling a nurse in March that there were things going on at the facility she was uncomfortable with. That never got reported at that time. That was two months prior to when the full-blown allegations came out.

Mark Dickerson, communications director for Good Samaritan Society, who attended the meeting, issued a statement about the case to the Tribune.

Dickerson said: “The (Minnesota Department of Health) report showed the Good Samaritan Society reacted in a timely manner and in a responsible manner.

“An experienced state investigator spent months doing a thorough investigation and those were her findings. That says a lot. She literally did dozens of interviews and went through thousands of pages of records.”

Bledsoe questioned how the Department of Health could exonerate the nursing home, saying the Good Sam Society leaders took swift action once they discovered the allegations. The facility received no penalties.

If the abuse had allegedly happened by a man or a woman of color, there would have been different charges on the table, he said.

Bledsoe said he invited Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson to be at the meeting, but Nelson declined the invitation.

Many people showed their frustration with Nelson and other city officials for not coming to the meeting.

One person in attendance said she thinks the case should not be tried in Albert Lea because the town’s residents are biased.

Another person asked why there were no rape charges for some of the things that allegedly took place.

Bledsoe said he’s talked with prosecutors in other counties who have expressed to him that they think some of the alleged abuse was sexual battery. He said he hopes to talk about the state statutes with Nelson during a meeting with him on Friday and offer some other assistance to him from professionals in prosecuting the case.

In the past, Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson has pointed out that the case is more difficult than typical cases in that there are no witnesses and the victims are unable to testify in court. He has said the charges have nothing to do with gender.

Bledsoe encouraged people to contact Nelson and let their opinions be known.

One man in attendance said he thinks a lot of people have already convicted the teenagers involved. Though he doesn’t condone what allegedly happened, that’s not how it should be, he said.

Another woman said she thinks the good staff at Good Samaritan have been victimized by this whole case as well. It’s not the facility as a whole that did this, it was only a handful of staff, she said.

However, Bledsoe questioned where the management and the supervision were when this all happened.

That woman responded that when the nursing home’s management found out about the alleged abuse they reported it. It wasn’t reported to management at first.

Bledsoe said he wasn’t out to “tar and feather” the teenagers allegedly involved in the case. He just wants the system to do what it’s supposed to do. He said he thinks the charges should be raised.

He talked of the legislation that has passed in his home state of Oklahoma because of some of his efforts and the legislation he is pushing for on the national level as a victims’ advocate.

He said he got involved as a victims’ advocate because his own grandmother died in 2000 because of negligent acts in a nursing home.

“Why’s nothing been done?” he said. “Because we have been silent … This is time for America to step up.”

Bledsoe said he has had four of the alleged victims families contact him for guidance so far in this case.