Inset: Arizona caregiver Mark Sampson. Background: A Phoenix neighborhood where Sampson worked at a group home and is accused of gagging a nonverbal man who has cerebral palsy (KNXV/YouTube).
An Arizona caregiver is accused of gagging a nonverbal man with cerebral palsy using a washcloth and socks while working at a Phoenix group home.
Mark Sampson appeared in court last week on a charge of vulnerable adult abuse under circumstances likely to cause death or serious physical injury. During the hearing, Ryan Dill, an assistant attorney general with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, described the allegations in detail, saying, “There was a washcloth stuffed in the victim’s mouth, and two socks were tied together around the victim’s head to the point where it left red marks on the victim’s face.”
Dill told the court that images of the man showed him “absolutely terrified,” according to local ABC affiliate KNXV, which reported on Sampson’s first court appearance. “This is an incredibly egregious violation of human dignity and the law,” Dill said.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by KNXV, Sampson was working as a certified caregiver at the Phoenix group home on March 19 when he allegedly gagged the man. Investigators say he placed a washcloth inside the man’s mouth, fastened it with socks and then covered him with blankets.
The affidavit states that the man could not remove the gag because of severe contractures in his arms and hands, leaving him with little to no fine motor function. Because he is nonverbal, he also was unable to call out for assistance, KNXV reported.
“The most vulnerable members of society — namely an individual who is afflicted with cerebral palsy — he is non-ambulatory and nonverbal,” Dill said in court. “His arms are contracted in such a way that he can’t even move and he cannot make a noise.”
After staff members found the man, he was taken to a local hospital. Medical personnel treated him for “abrasions around the outside of much of his mouth, and ligature marks on the sides of his neck,” according to the affidavit.
Sampson was arrested and charged on June 24. He has reportedly denied gagging the victim, claiming someone launched the accusations against him in an attempt to get him fired.
“Some sort of setup,” Sampson said in court last week.
He is being held on a $25,000 secured bond.
