A Leesburg woman is accused of abusing an elderly woman with dementia to gain attention on social media.
Certified Nursing Assistant Gabriel Woods, 34, was charged Wednesday with abuse, aggravated abuse, and neglect of an elderly person after several of her social media posts showed signs of mistreating a patient, according to an arrest report from the Mount Dora Police Department.
An employee at the facility where Woods worked told law enforcement officers that she received an anonymous work email advising an employee was abusing a patient within the facility. In addition, a video and photograph were sent as an attachment, the report said.
This employee informed the officer she recognized Woods in the video and the photo, the report said.
The video was posted on TikTok by account @mega_lodon89 showing Woods wearing a green work shirt, extremely distinct gold and silver bracelets, and black pants while dancing to a song. The video was captioned: “Nurse: The resident fell out of bed…Me: but this song hit I’ll pick her up in a min,” the report said.
The photo was posted on Facebook by account Mega Lodon showing an elderly female lying down in a bed, the report said. A heart emoji was partially covering the elderly woman’s face, but she was later identified as a patient who suffers from dementia.
In the photo, an arm believed to belong to Woods was seen with the same bracelets from the video. The arm was extended towards the patient’s face, grabbing and twisting her lips. This caused the patient’s top lip to appear white in the photo, the report said.
This white area around the patient’s upper lip was indicative of an area of skin which had a significant amount of force being applied to it. This was caused by the blood in the area being dispersed by forceful touch, the report said.
During the investigation, the employee informed the officer that Woods was not present at the time but was scheduled to work on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., at which time three officers arrived on scene to speak to Woods, the report said.
Woods agreed to waive her rights and speak to the officers present, the report said. She then admitted that the video and photograph were hers, and they were taken on Monday. She also acknowledged that the two accounts were hers. However, Woods claimed the circumstances in the video were not real and that there was not a patient waiting for assistance after falling.
Regarding the photo, Woods stated she was actively touching the patient’s face but that she was not doing so forcefully. This claim was contradicted by the white area around the patient’s mouth, the report said.
Woods confirmed that during the photo there was no legitimate reason to touch the patient’s mouth other than making the social media post. This showed that the touch was unnecessary, unwanted and most likely caused the patient pain and fear. Woods attempted to justify this battery by claiming it was posted because of a trend on social media to gain likes, the report said.
The employee explained that the patient has dementia and thus no recollection of the incident. No visible injuries were observed on the patient during the investigation, the report said.
Woods was placed under arrest and transported to the Lake County Jail without incident. She was released after posting $2,000 bond.
