SELINSGROVE -- An 86-year-old resident of the Manor at Penn Village was allegedly assaulted by an employee who forcibly removed her dentures and bruised her face.
Selinsgrove borough police charged Marlene B. Dupert, 44, of 504 Spruce St., Middleburg, with second-degree simple assault and summary harassment for allegedly assaulting Alice Reinard, at the Route 204 nursing home Jan. 6.
Teresa Walter, assistant director of clinical services at the 159-bed facility, reported the alleged assault to police the next day.
According to criminal records, part-time employee Amanda Hayes said she was asked by Dupert to aid in moving Reinard from her wheelchair and into her bed between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Hayes said she was "alarmed" when she saw Dupert forcibly remove Reinard's dentures from her mouth and then lunge at the elderly woman, although no contact was made.
Reinard told Hayes that a short time earlier Dupert struck her in the forehead with a metal lifting arm on her bed, she said.
Hayes said she then noticed a bruise on the woman's forehead that wasn't visible earlier in the evening.
In a telephone interview Friday, Dupert denied she was forceful with Reinard and said she didn't remove her dentures.
"My finger didn't touch her mouth," she said.
As for the forehead injury, Dupert said the lifting arm fell accidentally and she never intended to harm Reinard.
A certified nursing assistant for 15 years, Dupert had been employed at Manor at Penn Village for one year before the charges were filed and her employment was terminated. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 21 before District Judge John H. Reed in Selinsgrove.
Neither Walter or nursing home executive director Dennis Miller returned calls Friday afternoon.
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