SANDY, Aug. 25, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A Sandy man has been charged with elder abuse and exploitation of a vulnerable adult after investigators say he left his 73-year-old mother on the floor of her home for three days, until a visiting nurse found her “lying on the floor covered in her own urine and feces.”
Anthony Leichtle, 49, has been charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, a second-degree felony; exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a third-degree felony; and violation of a protective order, a Class-A misdemeanor.
According to a probable cause statement, victim Connie Valdez was released on March 4 from a rehabilitation center and returned to her home, where her son and his nephew were living.
When the home health care nurse visited on March 7 of this year, Valdez was on the floor, and said she did not recall being given food or taken to the bathroom since she had been home. She also said Leichtle had not spoken to her in that time.
Valdez was taken to the hospital and was found to be suffering from “acute urinary tract infection with evidence of sepsis, acute kidney injury requiring IV fluids, skin ulcers, and yeast intertrigo,” the probable cause statement says, adding “Ms. Valdez is now unable to walk or get out of bed.”
Investigators discovered that on Jan. 14 of this year, Leichtle had taken out a loan in his mother’s name at Solution Loans, in Salt Lake County, and that he was able to do so because he had secured Power of Attorney over his mother in 2015, at a time when she had a protective order against him.
The loan, for $299.71, was given at an interest rate of 468.29 percent, requiring 12 payments of $118.91 each, for a total of $1,546.23, the probable cause statement says. Valdez was not aware of the transaction, the statement said. A manager at Loan Solutions said one payment, of $25, was made on the loan.
When officers spoke to Valdez about getting a new Power of Attorney, the statement says, ” … she began yelling, ‘no, no, don’t bring him here! I don’t ever want to see him again,’ thinking officers were speaking about the defendant.”
Leichtle’s nephew, Paul Rich, told officers he had changed Valdez’s diaper, ” … and saw bloody sores on her buttocks as he cleaned her,” the statement said.
A warrant for Leichtle, filed on Aug. 17, stated that on that date, he was living with his mother’s best friend, “whom is also an elderly and vulnerable adult.”
The statement said the state was concerned about the friend, ” … her physical well-being and her financial status, given the events that happened between the defendant and his mother.”
Leichtle was taken into custody on Aug. 23.
