Care home owner, workers accused of restraining mentally-challenged patient

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — A Powder Springs residential care owner and three employees are charged with tying up a mentally-challenged man then forcing him to wear a diaper while restrained to a bed.

Arrest warrants say some of the care home staff got into a tussle with a patient at the home on Meadows Road back in January.

Employees Stephan Caldwell, Osvaldo Hernandez and John Mitchell allegedly scuffled with the victim.

Hernandez is accused of hitting the victim with an aluminum bat and then tying him up before taking the victim to another care home on Brownsville Road.

Top of the Line Residential Care at Brownsville Road is listed by the state as a care home for mentally challenged patients.

It's there where arrest warrants claim owner Edith Page had the patient tied to a bed where "the accused removed the victim's pants and made him wear a diaper," documents say.

Channel 2's Ross Cavitt went to Top of the Line on Monday, but the home looked vacant. He did track down Page by phone. She denied charges and referred Cavitt to her lawyer, who said he had not been detained.

The Top of the Line website touts itself as a 10-bed care home for mentally challenged. The video gives a tour in which Page says she is a registered nurse with almost 25 years of experience.

"We teach life skills in a very safe, structured and therapeutic environment," Page says in the video.

Page and the employees allegedly involved face charges ranging from felony false imprisonment to aggravated assault.

The condition and location of the victim is unknown.

The accused are on bond after being booked in the Cobb County jail.

WSBTV