Caregiver Charged For Abuse Against Elderly Woman

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A caregiver has now been charged, after she was caught on camera in a Silver Spring retirement home abusing an elderly woman.

In November 2015, the 95-year-old victim's son suspected his mother was being abused and set up a hidden camera.

A video shows the caregiver, 48-year-old Roxann Bucchan-Straker, striking wheelchair-bound patient in the head with a cell phone.

She told authorities she became frustrated when the woman took too long to eat.

The victim's son believed his mother was vulnerable and therefore had reason to see what was really happening when no one was around. He had suspicions about this nurse specifically.

Police say Bucchan-Straker struck the victim at least three more times over a six month period. She told the judge,"I'm so ashamed of myself." The judge replied,"you should be."

Bucchan-Straker has been sentenced to one year in prison followed by three years probation.

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