Police are searching for a 73-year-old man who walked away from an adult care facility Sunday evening, the county sheriff’s office said Tuesday morning. The man, who suffers from dementia,schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes, walked walked out of one of the exit doors of the facility unnoticed by staff members. Police began a search of the area using a tracking dog, the search was unsuccessful.

A personal-care home operator has been convicted of neglect and operating without a license. The state’s Attorney General announced that the operator pleaded guilty to 15 counts of misdemeanor neglect of vulnerable persons in her care and a single count of operating without a license earlier this month. The operator was sentenced to one year imprisonment, a $10,000 fine and court costs of $289.

A Lynchburg man who permitted his mother to die after lying in her own filth for days, pleaded guilty to felony neglect last Friday.  The 32-year-old Alexander Mikhail was indicted on a charge of felony neglect leading to death. He was convicted of a slightly reduced charge of neglect leading to serious bodily injury which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Doucette said that there was no question Mikhail’s actions led to his mother’s death.

Legislation which promotes the development of senior citizen-based domestic abuse prevention programs was recently signed into law by the Governor of one state. S4235 directs the Office For the Prevention of Domestic Violence to develop senior center-based domestic violence prevention programs. This new law aims to create new resources for victims of elder abuse.

Police have arrested a nursing home employee after she allegedly stole blank prescription pads from the facility. According to police,  the 30-year-old nursing home employee took the prescription forms off a clipboard at the facility and used them to write fake prescriptions for herself and her husband. According to the arrest report, the woman admitted to police that she took the forms.

A nursing home has been fined $75,000 by state regulators following the death of a 78-year-old patient whose feeding tube was inserted incorrectly. The man was at the facility recovering from a stroke when he was admitted in July 2008, according to a report from the State Department of Public Health. After the man’s feeding tube was inserted incorrectly, he complained of abdominal pain and was taken to an emergency room.