Nursing assistant found guilty of patient abuse appeals

DOVER, N.H. – A judge has found a nursing assistant guilty of simple assault and patient abuse in covering the mouth of a 92-year-old patient at a nursing centre and recording it.

Nineteen-year-old Samantha Siegel, of Portsmouth, was sentenced Thursday to 15 months in jail on the misdemeanours, most of that time suspended. She’s appealing her convictions to superior court, asking for a jury trial.

Prosecutors said that last year, Siegel, who used to work at St. Ann’s Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Dover, made a recording of herself putting her hand over the patient’s mouth to prevent the patient from speaking. She showed the recording to others.

St. Ann’s learned about the recording and called Dover police.