A friend sent this to me from back home.I do not know how anyone can do this at all.Before i had moved to tn i had worked here ar=t this home and it was a very nice home to work for but i was told that about a yr after i had left a lot of bull has been go on well my friends are right.This is just sooooooooooo not right.If you are going to put someone in a home do a back ground check on the home and social worker so this does not happen to you or your family.


Judge rejects plea deal in theft

$30,000 stolen at nursing home

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com

WORCESTER— A Central District Court judge rejected a plea agreement yesterday in the case of a former social worker charged with stealing thousands of dollars from a nursing home resident and using the money to gamble online.

Ann Silvernale, 52, of 37 Sherburne Ave. is charged with larceny of more than $250 from a person over the age of 60 for allegedly stealing about $30,000 from 69-year-old Patricia Norquist from December 2005 to July 2006.

Ms. Norquist, who has since died, was a resident of the Odd Fellows Home at 104 Randolph Road at the time of the alleged thefts and Ms. Silvernale was employed at the facility as a social worker. She was fired from her job after the allegations came to light and later forfeited her social worker’s license, according to her lawyer, Jennifer L. Ginsburg.

Judge David B. Locke rejected a plea agreement that would have placed Ms. Silvernale on probation for five years with an order of restitution in the amount of $15,000. Ms. Silvernale would also have been required to perform one day of community service per week while on probation and continue undergoing counseling.

The case was continued to Sept. 5.

The sentence was recommended by Assistant District Attorney John A. O’Leary and Ms. Ginsburg. Mr. O’Leary told the judge Ms. Norquist’s daughter, a nurse in North Carolina, was in agreement with the proposed disposition of the case and did not want to see Ms. Silvernale, who had no prior criminal record, go to jail.

According to Mr. O’Leary and court documents, Ms. Norquist told police on July 22, 2006, that she believed Ms. Silvernale, who was helping her manage her finances, was stealing from her bank accounts. Ms. Silvernale showed up at police headquarters that same day and admitted to detectives that she had taken about $30,000 out of Ms. Norquist’s bank accounts and used it to gamble online, according to police.

Ms. Ginsburg told Judge Locke that her client, who has a gambling problem and suffers from depression, was “extremely remorseful” for her actions and felt “embarrassed and humiliated.” She said her client, who had been a licensed social worker for nearly 20 years, confessed to both police and the state Division of Professional Licensure and had “given up her career as a social worker.”

Key Words: Peoplenursing Homescase Workers

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