Two women charged in connection with an indecent act in
their previous leadership roles at Baptist Health Care
Center in Lenoir City pled guilty for failing to report
the abuse of an adult and must serve a year of probation
per an order issued last week in Loudon County General
Sessions Court.
Former Baptist Administrator Cindy Wilmoth, 55, of Lenoir City, and Freda Jo Morton, 52, of Philadelphia, the director of nursing at the facility, were arrested in March on charges of tampering with government records and failure to make a report and were released on $4,000 bond after an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
In the most recent court hearing, Wilmoth and Morton
agreed to a plea arrangement of probation upon
payment of court fees and making a $100 contribution
to the Loudon County Senior Center on the failure to
report charge by an order of deferral, known as
judicial diversion, that was issued by Judge Rex
Dale.
The original charge carried a maximum sentence of 11
months, 29 days in jail. The tampering with evidence
charge was dismissed.
“Upon the pleas that were entered in this case, we
are in the process of closing the investigation,”
Susan Niland, spokeswoman with TBI, said.
TBI began an investigation into Baptist Health Care
in April 2014 after a Tennessee Department of Health
survey found that a certified nursing assistant
“inserted the fingers of a partially inflated latex
glove into the mouth of the resident while making
sexually suggestive comments in the presence of four
other staff members.” According to the Tennessee
Department of Health, the patient was “severely
cognitively impaired.”
During its investigation, TBI found Morton and
Wilmoth directed staff at the center on March 11,
2014 to “mislead the state investigators looking
into the allegations of abuse.”
In a report from April 2014, the Tennessee
Department of Health outlined eight individual
deficiencies at the center related to abuse and
neglect and poor record-keeping practices. In June
of that year, the state determined the center was
back in compliance.
Wilmoth retired from the facility in September after
26 years of service. Morton resigned her post in
March. According to Tennessee Department of Health
records, Wilmoth’s status as a certified nursing
home administrator is listed as “retired” with an
expiration date of February 2016, while Morton’s
certification as a registered nurse is active and
set to expire in August 2016.
Details were unclear as to whether Morton’s failure
to report abuse charge and subsequent probation will
prevent the former nursing director from working at
another facility.
Melissa Franklin, who was previously employed as an
interim administrator at Etowah Landing in Rome,
Ga., started as Baptist Health Care’s interim
administrator in early September 2014 and was named
the permanent director in December, according to a
previous interview with C. Kenny Cooper, president
and treasurer with Tennessee Baptist Adult Homes,
Baptist Health Care’s parent organization.
Christina Myers, Wilmoth’s daughter, is still
employed with the organization as marketing director
of the neighboring Williams Ferry Point Independent
Living.
Cooper could not be reached for comment.
According to the order of deferral rule in state
law, “... the granting of judicial diversion will
ultimately result in the dismissal of the charge or
the entry of an adjudication of guilt.”
An attempt to reach Morton at her residence in
Philadelphia was not successful, as the number is no
longer in service.
Wilmoth could not be reached for comment.
Wilmoth and Morton’s next court date is set for June
1, 2016.