Six teen caregivers of the Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea are facing criminal charges for abusing patients. Two of them were charged with physical, sexual and emotional abuse of 15 Alzheimer’s disease and dementia patients at the center. The other four were charged before the Freeborn County District Court for failing to report the abuses, including spitting water into a resident’s mouth and touching residents’ genital and breast to arouse or make them angry.

They were Brianna Marie Broitzman, 19, Ashton Michelle Larson, 18, Alicia Heilmann, 18 and Morgan Walton, 18. The names of the other two patients were not available.

All students were graduates of Albert Lea High School.

Broitzman and Larson are charged with assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct and failure to report suspected maltreatment. If found guilty, they “most likely will face suspended jail sentences and probation,” Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson said.

In August, the Minnesota Department of Health made public a report showing that 15 residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia disorders were abused at the facility between Jan. 1 and May 1.

“We are just really thankful that the proceedings are moving forward and hopefully can see some closure to this whole process,” Mark Anderson, administrator at the Good Samaritan Society in Albert Lea told local WCCO-TV.