Two part-time nurse's aides have pleaded not-guilty to taking illegal pictures of patients at three different nursing homes. David Rover, 25, was charged with seven counts of unlawful surveillance, one count of dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image, and two counts of offering a false instrument for filing. Thomas Mocerca, 23, is charged with five counts of unlawful surveillance. The sentencing for each count is from fifteen months to four years.
According to a release from Attorney General Schneiderman, the offenses took place at Woodhaven Nursing Home in Port Jefferson Station, Jefferson’s Ferry in South Setauket, and the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook. Andy Kraus, Spokesman for Jefferson's Ferry, has stated Rover was not an aide but worked in the dining hall, and that Mocerca has no connection with Jefferson's Ferry. In a statement issued to the press, Kraus said "Investigators found no evidence of disturbing pictures taken of our residents."
Some of the pictures were graphic. One was of an elderly man’s genitals covered in feces. In another picture, an elderly woman tried grabbing an ice cream cone while one of the aides held it over her head higher and higher whenever she jumped up for it. The most disturbing footage Rover and Mocerca took was a video of a terrified man suffering from dementia.
The Long Island Veterans Home released a statement on the incidents with David Rover and Thomas Mocerca: “The Long Island State Veterans Home will never tolerate any egregious actions against any veteran and is fully committed to work closely with the Attorney General’s Office to prosecute any violators to the fullest extent of the law. The Long Island State Veterans Home will always remain true to its core mission of caring for America’s heroes and would never jeopardize the sacred trust we have with Long Island’s veteran community."
They were caught when Rover sent a picture to a nurse aid student and the student immediately reported him to the administration. After pleading not-guilty, the two were released on their own recognizance. It’s since come out that Rover inflated his resume to get the job.
UPDATE, 11:30 AM, FRIDAY: Andy Kraus, Spokesman for Jefferson's Ferry, has stated Rover was not an aide but worked in the dining hall, and that Mocerca has no connection with Jefferson's Ferry. In a statement issued to the press, Kraus said "Investigators found no evidence of disturbing pictures taken of our residents."