Former Baton Rouge home manager accused of not reporting abuse of disabled woman

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A home manager at a Baton Rouge group home has been arrested as part of an investigation into the abuse of a disabled resident.

Karen Netter, 56, of Baton Rouge, was charged with one misdemeanor count of abuse and neglect of adults. The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office said Netter is accused of “knowingly and willfully failing to report the physical abuse of a mentally challenged client as required by law.”

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The case stems from an incident on November 10, 2023, at the Harmony Center, Inc. A.B. Horn Group Home, where another employee, Megan Ambeau, 34, allegedly assaulted a 42-year-old resident. Ambeau is accused of punching the resident in the nose and twisting her nipples.

According to an arrest warrant, the victim “suffers from severe intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, seizures, and has limited verbal communication.” Doctors confirmed a nasal bone fracture after she was hospitalized.

Investigators said Ambeau contacted Netter after the incident. Netter then spoke with another staff member who was in the room at the time. That employee told Netter she heard the resident’s “nose crack and that it was bad.”

Instead of reporting the abuse, Netter allegedly instructed staff to take the resident to urgent care and say she had fallen and suffered a seizure. Netter later admitted Ambeau told her directly that she had broken the resident’s nose.

Netter told investigators she was fired for not reporting the incident, not notifying the social worker, and not following proper protocol.

A separate Louisiana Department of Health investigation revealed Netter acknowledged being told again, two days after the incident, that Ambeau had struck the resident. Still, she did not report the abuse, later admitting that police should have been called immediately.

Netter surrendered to Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

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