PEABODY — It was around 8:30 p.m., time for the 92-year-old patient to be readied for bed, one evening last September.
Kumba Tamba, a certified nursing assistant, went into the patient's room at Pilgrim Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center, investigators say, to give him a sponge bath and change his briefs.
But when the frail patient complained that Tamba was being a bit rough, Tamba got violent, according to prosecutors — so rough that the patient's two roommates spoke up. Then Tamba closed the privacy curtain around his bed and continued her abuse, according to prosecutors.
Tamba, 64, of Lynn, pleaded not guilty in Peabody District Court on Tuesday to two counts of assault and battery on an elderly or disabled person, charges that could send her to state prison for up to six years if she is convicted.
On the evening of Sept. 28, Tamba went into the patient's room, which he shared with two other men, investigator Linda Landry of the Medicaid Fraud Division wrote in a report. Her office investigates reports of abuse, neglect and mistreatment involving patients who are on Medicaid.
Tamba, who had worked at the facility for about three months, was giving the patient a sponge bath when he told her she was being too rough, Landry wrote. She then placed her knee on his back and continued washing him as he cried out that she was hurting him, Landry wrote.
The patient's two roommates also asked her to stop. Instead, she briefly got off the patient and closed the privacy curtain, then returned to the bed, where she kneeled on his legs and told him to "shut up and stop complaining," one of the roommates told the investigator.
Then as she began washing the man's genitals, he began crying, telling her he was in pain. Her response was to wrap a washcloth around his penis and rub "very roughly," according to the report, taunting the man, "You know you love me."
Tamba lost her job as a result of the alleged incident. Landry completed her report in June and the attorney general's office sought a criminal complaint in Peabody District Court.
That complaint was issued on Tuesday after a clerk magistrate's hearing, and Tamba was arraigned shortly afterward.
Her attorney, Nzenwa Austin Chima, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Ernie Corrigan, a spokesman for Berkshire Health Systems, which owns the Peabody facility, said incidents like the one involving Tamba "are not allowed to occur twice."
Tamba was suspended and subsequently fired, Corrigan said.
All employees are required to undergo criminal background checks prior to being hired, and the company also checks references. Employees are also required to attend training on a regular basis, including training about abuse and neglect.
Tamba was released on personal recognizance with an order that she stay away from the patient. She's due back in court on Oct. 24.
