South Barrington memory care worker charged with recording naked patient, sharing videos: police
The wife of the memory care resident who was allegedly recorded told the I-Team that her trust was exploited and broken.
SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill. (WLS) -- Authorities say a trusted care giver videotaped a resident naked, sharing that video and others in a group chat with other workers at Encore Memory Care in South Barrington. The wife of that resident told the I-Team her trust was exploited and broken.
"It sickens me. It immobilizes my every thought," said Kristen Fisher.
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She said her husband Skip spent nearly three years at Encore Memory Care in South Barrington.
He had Parkinson's disease and was nonverbal at the time 25-year-old Madison Russo is accused of videotaping him while he was naked on a bed.
Russo shared that video with at least five others who worked at the assisted living facility, according to a police report obtained by the I-Team through a public records request.
"Being that he could not communicate verbally, that just even deepens my sickness when I think about this because he knew what was going on, and for him not to be able to communicate that to another nurse who walked in or another caregiver that walked in, it just makes me sick," Fisher told the I-Team.
Fisher says she was contacted by the facility's director after two workers came forward to South Barrington police, who launched an investigation. Russo is facing 20 charges, including multiple felony counts for disseminating unlawful video and videotaping a person's intimate parts.
"I had always thought that the caregiving was top notch, and I never questioned the caregiving. I was in complete shock," said Fisher.
"This was a culture, a community, something that was going on, that was ongoing. There was sharing amongst these people, which you know we know because six were terminated and two came forward," said Margaret Battersby Black.
She represents Fisher and tells the I-Team her firm will soon be filing a civil lawsuit against Encore Memory Care. Those videos were sent via Snapchat in a group called "Traitors and Besties," according to South Barrington police who interviewed Russo.
Russo admitted to sharing video of a resident in a shower but denied recording others with the theory someone created a fake Snapchat account to get back at her, according to a police report.
"One of the videos was taken in the shower, one was taken when I believe a gentleman was on the toilet, one was taken obviously of Skip when he was undressed in bed," said Black. "It was brought to their attention two months after it occurred, and then it took the police involvement for them to actually start to take it seriously."
The facility director sent an email to families of residents informing them of staffing challenges but not alerting them to the six employees fired due to the investigation.
"This should not go on anywhere. And not only am I fighting for my husband, I'm fighting for the other impacted residents at the Encore, as well as any other resident that's in any other facility, this should never go on," said Fisher.
Russo's indictment is sealed. She'll be in court Tuesday. The I-Team reached out to Encore Memory Care in South Barrington for comment but did not hear back. Fisher's attorney tells the I-Team there could be more victims.
