Attorney General Jack Conway and his Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control Unit today announced the indictment of four caregivers accused of failing to report sexual abuse allegedly committed by Damon Heath at Community Choices Unlimited.
As a result of their failure to report these abuse allegations, Damon Heath continued his alleged abuse of residents at Community Choices.
Damon J. Heath, 23, of Frankfort, Ky., was arrested and indicted in February and has charges pending in Franklin Circuit Court for five counts of third-degree sodomy and four counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Heath is a former caregiver at Community Choices Unlimited, which manages a group of Frankfort-area facilities that cares for intellectually disabled adults. Four other employees were charged with misdemeanor counts, on April 14 in Franklin District Court, for failure to notify superiors of Heath’s abuse. All four were also indicted yesterday by the Franklin County grand jury for felony charges of wanton neglect. The four defendants are as follows:
1) Louis Dewayne Milligan, 43, charged with three counts of Wanton Neglect, Class D felonies, carrying one to five years in prison and one count of Failure to Notify Reported Abuse a Class B misdemeanor, carrying up to 90 days in jail.
2) Randy Ricardo Driver, 32, charged with two counts Wanton Neglect, one count Failure to Notify Reported Abuse.
3) Tammy D. Humphrey, 55, charged with two counts Wanton Neglect, two counts Failure to Notify Reported Abuse.
4) Toshia J. Redding, 40, charged with two counts Wanton Neglect, two counts Failure to Notify Reported Abuse.
“My investigators moved swiftly to investigate these abuse allegations immediately after receiving the complaint,” Attorney General Conway said. “These heinous crimes committed against helpless victims require additional responsibility by facility caregivers to report allegations. Caregivers cannot simply turn a blind eye to known abuse or neglect and those that fail to report abuse and neglect will be prosecuted. As always, I encourage anyone who suspects patient neglect or abuse in a nursing home, Medicaid facility, or personal care home to report it to my office using our tip line at 1-877-ABUSE-TIP.”
Heath has also been indicted on another count of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree and is set to be arraigned on May 1 in Franklin Circuit Court. That charge will likely be joined with the other nine pending felony charges, which are scheduled for trial, June 10, 2015, in Franklin Circuit Court. Heath was lodged in the Franklin County Regional Jail in February and remains in custody on a $100,000 cash bond.
The four recently indicted defendants have been summoned to appear in Franklin District Court May 12, 2015 at 9 a.m., for arraignment on their failure to notify misdemeanor charges. They also all have been summoned to appear in Franklin Circuit Court June 19 at 9 a.m. for arraignment on their felony wanton neglect charges.
The investigation of this case by Attorney General Conway's Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control Unit is ongoing. Franklin Commonwealth’s Attorney Larry Cleveland is handling the prosecution of all the above circuit court felony matters and Rick Sparks, Franklin County Attorney, is prosecuting all misdemeanor charges pending in Franklin District Court.
A charge is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control Unit
Since Attorney General Conway took office in January 2008, his Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control has recovered or been awarded more than $300 million for the state and federal Medicaid programs. These cases range from lawsuits and settlements against pharmaceutical companies to cases against individual providers.
Attorney General Conway has investigated and/or prosecuted more elder abuse and neglect cases than any previous Attorney General.
In 2013, General Conway’s Medicaid Fraud Unit was named one of the most aggressive in the country by the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen.
