HARRISBURG – A Blair County woman entered a guilty plea today to neglect of a care-dependent person. Diana Frye, 52, 1104 14th Ave., Altoona, was employed in 2011 as a care aide at Warner’s Home for the Aged in Altoona.
She has admitted her role in the neglect of an 80-year-old man that led to bodily injury.
“This case, as every abuse upon our older citizens, is appalling,” said Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane. “The victim trusted Ms. Frye to fulfill her obligation as an aide and a human being. She failed him.
“We will continue to seek justice for any care-dependent person who is abused and neglected.”
The investigation showed that Frye let the man sleep in his urine and feces during the night shift, and failed to physically check on him throughout her shift to see if he needed to use the restroom or needed to be changed.
The man eventually developed sores on his buttocks and hips, which were not healing because they were not treated properly. The investigation revealed that the man was found one morning at approximately 6:30 a.m., lying in his own waste on the floor beside his bed. He had not been checked on that night, the investigation showed.
Frye’s guilty plea was accepted by Blair County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Jolene Grubb Kopriva. A sentencing hearing for Frye will be scheduled after the pre-sentence investigation has been completed. She faces a maximum five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Two co-defendants, Sherry Jo Warner, former owner of Warner’s Home for the Aged, and Marjory Koch, another former aide at Warner’s, have already entered guilty pleas to neglect charges for their roles in the same case. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for April.