Cesar Ulloa, 21 (Photo: Los Angeles Times / March 29, 2010) |
LOS ANGELES -- A former caregiver has been sentenced to life in prison for torturing, body-slamming and taunting elderly patients at an upscale Calabasas retirement home.
Cesar Ulloa, 21, was convicted in April of one count of torture and seven counts of elder abuse. He was sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
During his trial, witnesses testified that Ulloa body-slammed a mute 78-year-old woman, leaped from a dresser and landed both knees in an elderly man's stomach and told another patient he "was sexing his daughter."
"He attacked the most vulnerable people you can possibly find," Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Robin Allen said during the trial.
"He hit them and he laughed. This was sport."
Witnesses say Ulloa attacked patients at the Silverado Senior Living facility in Calabasas where many patients were unable to tell anyone about the abuse because they suffer from dementia or other conditions.
Adelina Campos, who worked at the facility, says she saw Ulloa leap from a dresser onto a male patient, landing with both knees on his belly.
"I was just in shock," Campos told jurors.
Another caregiver, Luz Alvarez, said she saw Ulloa punch a combative man in the stomach, laugh and ask the wheelchair-confined man: "Haven't you had enough?"
Prosecutors say he also attacked a 78-year-old woman and tried to get two wheelchair-confined residents to fight.
The investigation began in 2007 after the death of Elmore Kittower. The day after his funeral, his widow got a telephone call from Campos' mother, who told her that Kittowe had been beaten to death.
The body was exhumed and found to have several broken bones. An autopsy concluded that blunt force trauma contributed to his death.
Ulloa was fired from the facility for unrelated reasons and has been jailed since his arrest in 2008.
The retirement home, which has a reputation for being costly and comfortable, with fees running $70,000 a year or more, has denied any wrongdoing.
Cesar Ulloa, 21, was convicted in April of one count of torture and seven counts of elder abuse. He was sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
During his trial, witnesses testified that Ulloa body-slammed a mute 78-year-old woman, leaped from a dresser and landed both knees in an elderly man's stomach and told another patient he "was sexing his daughter."
"He attacked the most vulnerable people you can possibly find," Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Robin Allen said during the trial.
"He hit them and he laughed. This was sport."
Witnesses say Ulloa attacked patients at the Silverado Senior Living facility in Calabasas where many patients were unable to tell anyone about the abuse because they suffer from dementia or other conditions.
Adelina Campos, who worked at the facility, says she saw Ulloa leap from a dresser onto a male patient, landing with both knees on his belly.
"I was just in shock," Campos told jurors.
Another caregiver, Luz Alvarez, said she saw Ulloa punch a combative man in the stomach, laugh and ask the wheelchair-confined man: "Haven't you had enough?"
Prosecutors say he also attacked a 78-year-old woman and tried to get two wheelchair-confined residents to fight.
The investigation began in 2007 after the death of Elmore Kittower. The day after his funeral, his widow got a telephone call from Campos' mother, who told her that Kittowe had been beaten to death.
The body was exhumed and found to have several broken bones. An autopsy concluded that blunt force trauma contributed to his death.
Ulloa was fired from the facility for unrelated reasons and has been jailed since his arrest in 2008.
The retirement home, which has a reputation for being costly and comfortable, with fees running $70,000 a year or more, has denied any wrongdoing.
