Lansdale Police. Photo by James Short.
The defendant is accused of kicking an elderly man's legs because he would not get out of bed.
A personal care aide employed at a Lansdale continuing care retirement facility was charged via summons with misdemeanor offenses involving the alleged elder abuse and neglect of a dementia patient in her care.
Elizabeth Joy Pry, 55, of the 400 block of East Hancock Street, Lansdale, was charged by Lansdale Police detectives earlier this month with neglect of a care-dependent person, abuse of a care-dependent person, endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person, striking, shoving, kicking or attempting to subject a care-dependent person or threaten them with physical contact, per court records.
The abuse, police allege, occurred May 21, 2024 at Elm Terrace Gardens, 660 N. Broad St., Lansdale, and was captured on video footage from a camera in the patient’s room.
Detectives learned that day that Elm Terrace Gardens received a call from the family of a personal care resident with vascular dementia and other medical issues, police said in an affidavit. Once Elm Terrace CEO/President Tim Murphy was notified and observed the video footage, he forwarded the complaint to Lansdale Police.
"There were no previous allegations of abuse by this employee brought to our attention. We acted immediately by terminating the employee and contacting the local police and all government agencies who oversee our facility," said Murphy in a statement to North Penn Now. "The management team at Elm Terrace Gardens will continue to cooperate with law enforcement officials as this case is prosecuted."
Pry has been employed since 2022 at the retirement facility, and on the night of May 21, she was working in the secured dementia unit off Seventh Street during a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, police said.
She was responsible for 12 residents and was supervised by a licensed practical nurse/shift supervisor.
The video, police allege, showed Pry entering the patient’s room at 6:11 a.m. May 21, ripping the blanket off the man while he was lying in bed, saying, “Get up. Let’s go.” Pry continued to tell the man to get up as she turned on lights. Police said the patient did not move, and remained lying on his left side, so, raising her voice, Pry walks over and pushes his legs off the right side of the mattress.
Pry grabbed the man’s right knee and pushed it to the right side, shifting his body on the mattress from his left side to his back, police said. She continued to tell him to get up, shouting “I’m not helping you up! Get up!,” per the complaint.
The patient remained with his body stiff, on his back, with his feet off the mattress. At which point, police said, Pry kicked her right leg toward the man’s legs, with an audible thud.
The man reacted by putting his right leg up, police said, and then Pry grabbed the man’s right arm and pulled it, shouting, “Get up!”
The man was positioned on the edge of the mattress, and Pry said, “If you fall on the floor, I’m not helping you up. I’m not. Because you could have got up yourself,” according to the affidavit.
Detectives allege Pry continued to refuse to help the man up out of bed, and pointed at him, saying, “You can stay like that too. I don’t care. You don’t want to help yourself … you’re lazy, OK? You want somebody always doing stuff for you, what you can do yourself. So, stop the bullshit.”
Pry told the man if he fell on the floor, he will stay like that too, police said.
At 6:15 a.m., Pry told the patient that he can get up on his own, said bye, and then turned off the light and closed the door, per the complaint. Then, the man slides off the mattress onto the floor in the video.
Pry returned to the room a minute later, told him, “You can help yourself up,” without asking if he was hurt or needed assistance, police said, and left.
After 27 minutes pass, Pry returned to the room, where the man was still on the floor, police said. Pry requested help from the shift supervisor, who asked Pry when the last time was that she saw the patient.
“Fifteen minutes ago. And he was sitting on the edge of the bed,” said Pry, per the affidavit. “And the thing is, he won’t help himself. He knows exactly what he be doing.”
The man gets to his feet with their assistance, police said.
The shift supervisor told authorities that Pry did not say anything in the morning during her first rounds and that everybody was fine, per the affidavit, and that later, Pry told her the patient might have slipped off the bed.
The supervisor told Pry it was her responsibility as an aide to call the nurse and medical technician when someone falls so they can assess the patient, police said.
A licensed practitioner nurse assessed the patient and discovered two small bruises on his left hand that were not there previously, police said.
Pry told detectives she did not recall kicking the man or making any physical contact with her leg or foot, per the complaint. She told police she was frustrated that the man would not get up and she was rough with him, according to police.
Police said Pry also did not recall telling the man that she was not going to help him.
“I’m sorry if I did anything wrong or out of the ordinary, um, it wasn’t intentional,” Pry said, according to the complaint.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Edward Levine.
Court docket information did not list arraignment details or bail requirements.
"We take any report of abuse extremely seriously and as an organization, we have zero tolerance for abuse of any nature. We are encouraged that the resident is doing very well," Murphy said.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
