A caretaker for Casper is charged with binding the patient’s head to a bed

Casper (WNE) — A Casper-based care provider has been charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult and false imprisonment after other employees claimed she tied a patient’s head to her bed to keep them from moving.

Julie Cross, 50, worked at NOWCAP Services in north Casper when the alleged offense occurred.

Court documents show that authorities issued a warrant for Cross on Wednesday.

Casper Police spokeswoman Rebekah Ladd confirmed that Cross was arrested on a warrant Friday morning.

Cross was charged in connection with an incident that occurred on July 14, according to an affidavit filed. An attendant told authorities that she arrived at work that morning and discovered a female patient with her pants down and around her knees. According to the filing, signed by Casper Police Officer Sarah Price, the staff member discovered the patient’s head was tied to her bedframe by a blue scarf while pulling them up.

Price wrote that a second staff member confirmed that the patient’s head was tied to the bed with multiple knots, and that it took them about five minutes to free the patient.

They also noted that the patient did not appear to have bathed over the weekend, as evidenced by matted, odorous hair on Monday.

In a phone call with Price, Cross told the officer that she tied a scarf around the patient’s hair because it was interfering with her care, and that the patient’s inability to move her head was due to the scarf becoming tangled.

“She believes that [the patient] was tossing her head side-to-side and the scarf got wrapped around again,” according to the affidavit.

One of the reporting attendants also showed Price photos of the scarf tied around the patient and the bed. On Thursday afternoon, the director of NOWCAP declined to comment on Cross’ employment status at the facility.

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