Centre County woman sentenced to state prison for neglect that left senior ‘at death’s door’
A Centre County woman was sentenced Wednesday to state prison for neglect that the county’s top prosecutor described as leaving an older woman “at death’s door.”
Loretta P. Stokes-McClusick, 54, of Philipsburg, was sentenced by Centre County Judge Julia Rater to a minimum of three years, four months in state prison. She is not eligible for a program that would have allowed her to reduce her minimum sentence.
Her maximum sentence is six years, eight months in prison. She was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution. Stokes-McClusick declined an opportunity to comment before her sentence was read.
The sentence handed down by Rater went above the guidelines even for a case with aggravating circumstances. In explaining her decision, Rater said she considered the “unimaginable pain that the victim was in on a daily basis.”
“I’m very mindful of the fact that the defendant was in a position of trust and responsibility for the victim, and that the defendant did not lack the ability to obtain help in caring for (the woman),” Rater said. “In fact, she refused the help that was available to her at no cost.”
Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna advocated for a sentence of at least five years in state prison, arguing that Stokes-McClusick has not taken accountability for the crimes and because of a “lack of moral character.”
Stokes-McClusick occasionally shook her head as he made his pitch.
“I doubt you’ll see a case of elder neglect ... worse than this,” Cantorna told the judge.
The 84-year-old woman in Stokes-McClusick’s care was hospitalized in May 2022 at Mount Nittany Medical Center for what a registered nurse described as “horrific wounds.”
She lost nearly half of her body weight in five weeks, was treated for hypothermia, her blood pressure was the lowest the nurse had ever seen and some wounds that appeared to be caused by maggots exposed bone.
Cantorna said photos of the woman’s injuries are “hard to look at.” The woman survived, but medical professionals at the emergency room feared she would either die or need to have one of her legs amputated.
“It’s nothing short of incredible that she survived this ordeal,” former Centre County First Assistant District Attorney Sean McGraw said when Stokes-McClusick was arraigned in February 2023. “I think it’s a tribute to both her resilience, as well as the excellent care that she received at Mount Nittany Medical Center.”
The Snow Shoe Township home where Stokes-McClusick was supposed to care for the woman had deplorable conditions, state police at Rockview wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. There was little food or medical supplies, while the rest of the house was cluttered with garbage, police wrote.
Prosecutors said Stokes-McClusick lived off the woman. A court-appointed guardian oversaw the woman’s finances after her hospitalization, but prosecutors alleged Stokes-McClusick wrote herself a $2,000 check from the woman’s bank account.
She pleaded no contest in March to one felony count each of neglect of a care dependent person and financial exploitation of a care dependent person. The plea meant she accepted the conviction, but did not admit guilt.
Centre County Assistant Public Defender Elizabeth Vanier argued for Stokes-McClusick to be sentenced to everything from probation to a state prison sentence that was capped at four years.
She conceded that the woman’s injuries were “intense and horrific,” but wrote in a memo sent to Rater that the woman was bedridden and had dementia before she was hospitalized.
She also said Stokes-McClusick tried to abide by the woman’s wishes to not be in a care facility and that other people who lived in the home were not charged. Stokes-McClusick had no prior criminal history.
“Her entire family has cut ties with her,” Vanier told Rater. After the hearing, Vanier said she plans to file a post-sentence motion that would challenge the discretionary aspects of the sentence.
The woman “happily and blissfully” lives in a nursing home, Cantorna said. Her injuries healed and she regained at least some weight, county detective Ralph Ralston wrote in a report.
A social worker described her as a “sweet lady who talks quite a bit.”
Added Ralston: “Although completely immobile, she appeared to be in good health. She was pleasant, very talkative and had a lively sense of humor.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2024 at 4:21 PM.