GLENWOOD (AP) — The first of six former Glenwood State Resource Center workers charged with mistreating facility residents has been convicted of abusing a severely autistic man.
Kayla Stevenson, 24, was convicted Tuesday in Mills County District Court of wanton neglect of a resident.
She faces up to two years in prison when she’s sentenced.
A video shown at her trial showed Stevenson hitting the 19-year-old resident in the head twice with the heavy end of a butter knife as he’s held down by another worker. Her attorney argued that the incident amounted only to “taps” on the head that caused no injury.
Earlier this year, 13 workers at the center quit or were fired over abuse allegations. An Iowa Department of Human Services investigation found that several clients were physically abused or subjected to verbal abuse or neglect.
