BRONX CAREGIVER INDICTED IN PHYSICAL ABUSE OF WOMAN WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

Charges Are Result of Joint Investigation by Bronx DA’s Office and NYS Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs

  Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been indicted for allegedly physically abusing a woman suffering from brain damage while he was working as her caregiver. 

 District Attorney Clark said, “Instead of doing his job as a caregiver and helping the victim, the defendant allegedly put his hand around her neck, pushed her against the wall and dragged her across the room. The defendant allegedly did this to a woman who is diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury and has difficulty walking.” 

 New York State Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs Executive Director Denise Miranda said, “The conduct this defendant is alleged to have committed is reprehensible. Vulnerable New Yorkers should be able to trust those caring for them, not live in fear. The Justice Center thanks the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for their continued commitment to work together with the Justice Center to hold workers who abuse those in their care accountable.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Jamel Hogue, 32, of 1120 College Avenue, was arraigned today on first-degree Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person; Endangering the Welfare of a Vulnerable Elderly Person, or an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person; second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Vulnerable Elderly Person; and two counts of third-degree Assault before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. The defendant, who is on Supervised Release, is due back in court on April 25, 2019.

 According to the investigation, during the afternoon of June 27, 2018, at the Young Adult Institute located at 3321 Bainbridge Avenue, the defendant, while acting as the 30-year-old victim’s caregiver, physically assaulted the victim. Hogue allegedly pushed her against a wall, grabbed her arm and threw her to floor. He then kicked the victim’s legs, grabbed her shirt and dragged her across the room. The multiple acts of violence were caught on video.

 Additionally, a second video, taken on the same day, shows the defendant slapping the victim twice in the face, causing her to fall to the ground.

 District Attorney Clark thanked Erin Gise, Assistant Special Prosecutor with the New York State Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs for assistance in the investigation. 

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.