OLMSTEAD UPDATES

News blog follows implementation of landmark 2014 federal consent decree that requires Rhode Island to remedy violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.S. Supreme Court's Olmstead decision. Over ten years, Rhode Island must reinvent state services for citizens with developmental disabilities to give them opportunities for supportive employment and meaningful activities in their communities.

By Gina Macris

Kimberly Faneuf, 49, of Cumberland, RI, formerly a licensed practical nurse, pleaded guilty in RI Superior Court June 14 to one count of assault on a severely impaired person, a nine year-old boy with developmental disabilities who is prone to seizures.

After a plea agreement, reached with the approval of the victim’s family, Judge Netti C. Vogel sentenced Faneuf to five years in prison with 18 months to serve, and the remainder suspended with probation, according to the office of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin.

In addition, Vogel ordered Faneuf to perform 50 hours of community service, seek mental health counseling, and have no contact with the victim.

The state Department of Health stripped Faneuf of her nursing license shortly after she was arrested by Cranston police, nearly three years ago.

The parents of the boy, a Cranston couple, hired Faneuf to care for their son July 29, 2013, while they went out to a rare dinner alone, according to Kilmartin’s spokeswoman.

While they were at dinner, the couple checked in remotely with a camera they had placed in their son’s bedroom to monitor him in case of a seizure.

They saw an image of Faneuf “grabbing their son roughly, assaulting him, and tossing him on to his bed,” according to the spokeswoman for Kilmartin.

The couple rushed home, confronted Fanuef, and took their son to Hasbro Children’s Hospital, where doctors found a bruise on his arm, a bump on his head, and a blood spot in his left eye.

After her arrest, Faneuf “offered no acceptable reasons for her behavior towards the boy, except to say she was overworked and tired, and admitted the care was ‘not up to standards’ that evening,” according to Kilmartin’s spokeswoman.

Kilmartin said of the case: “This young boy needed care and compassion, but in a fit of rage and anger, his caretaker physically assaulted him. As a professionally trained LPN, her actions are even more troubling. The developmentally disabled are among our most vulnerable population, often unable to report an assault or abuse. Had it not been for his loving parents installing a video camera to monitor their son’s health, this assault very well may not have been reported and this defendant free to assault more patients.”