A former nurse at Gracedale Nursing Home is accused of sticking her fingers in a nonverbal patient’s mouth, claiming the patient had “demons” inside her that needed to come out, according to authorities.
Octavia Robinson, 43, of Morristown, New Jersey, faces misdemeanor offenses of abuse of a care-dependent person and simple assault, for the incident that allegedly happened the morning of June 23 at the Northampton County-run facility in Upper Nazareth Township.
Township police wrote in court documents that a 911 caller reported that a nurse, Robinson, was acting strangely and would not come out of the patient’s room for about two hours. An officer went to the facility and found Robinson standing over the patient with her fingers shoved into her mouth, police said.
She told the officer that there were demons inside the patient that “needed to come out,” police allege. The patient, who is bed-ridden and nonverbal, appeared to be in distress, court documents state. Blood was on the patient’s chest and bedding, officials said.
The officer told Robinson to stop, and she took her hand out of the patient’s mouth, according to authorities. Robinson was arrested and taken to a hospital for an involuntary mental health evaluation, court documents state.
She has not been arraigned on the charges, which were filed June 23, as of Thursday. She did not have an attorney listed.
Robinson was an agency hire, and started on June 11, according to Jessica Berger, the county’s public information officer. She said Thursday that Robinson is not employed by the county anymore.
