Bridget Grimes and Debra Sloan were arraigned this morning in Warren County on the 17-count indictment handed down by the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office in the death of Tara O’Leary, a developmentally disabled woman who had lived in a sponsor home. The case was moved to Warren County after two Hunterdon County judges were found to have conflicts of interest.
Earlier this week, the 12th District legislators called upon New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram to reverse her decision to not pursue a full investigation into the suspected corruption at the Division of the Developmentally Disabled that may have been what allowed Tara O’Leary’s death to take place while under the care of State workers (click here to view the letter).
Grimes was Tara’s caseworker and an employee of the Division of the Developmentally Disabled, a section of the New Jersey Department of Human Services. Sloan ran the sponsor home where Tara lived for several years before she was moved to a hospital in November 2008. Weeks later, she died at the age of 29 weighing only 43 pounds.
Senator Jennifer Beck was on hand today for the arraignment of Grimes and Sloan in the courtroom of Judge John J. Coyle.
“Today’s arraignment of Bridget Grimes and Debra Sloan is a call to action for the entire State of New Jersey to make sure that no one else suffers Tara’s fate,” said Beck. “I do believe that these two women should be held accountable for the role they played in allowing Tara O’Leary to starve to death under the care of a State caseworker and a State-sanctioned sponsor home, and the State must investigate deeper to assure that this is never permitted to happen again.”
Beck, along with Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, have introduced legislation that has come to be known as Tara’s Law, which seeks to create a registry for all caregivers of the developmentally disabled that have been found neglectful or abusive of those individuals left in their care.
“It is our duty to protect those citizens among us who cannot protect themselves,” said Casagrande, “and in the case of Tara O’Leary, we must ensure that those responsible for her death are held accountable for their actions. Although any punishment they may receive will not bring Tara back to her loving family, we can know that a precedent will be set so that we will be able to better protect others like Tara from a similar outcome.”
Tara’s death left a permanent impression on all those who knew her,” said O’Scanlon. “Her family did everything they could while she was alive to obtain custody of her. They were met with resistance at every turn by both Debra Sloan and Bridget Grimes. As this case proceeds, it is my hope that Tara’s family will find some sense that justice has been served, and that the State can move forward to pass the laws that will help prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.”
Both Grimes and Sloan pleaded “not guilty” to all charges, and will return to court in Warren County on February 18, 2010 at 11 a.m.
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