(Stillwater, Okla.) – A teenager, who was employed to provide care by Supported Community Lifestyles at a Stillwater residence, has admitted to repeatedly pushing two clients into a sitting position on a couch in a group home “in an aggressive and intimidating manner,” court records show.

Joseph Garcia, 19, of Coyle, was allowed to remain free on a personal recognizance bond under the Delayed Sentencing Act for Young Offenders following his guilty plea last week to two counts of caretaker abuse of a vulnerable adult, court records show.

Payne County District Judge Phillip Corley scheduled Garcia’s sentencing for May 10, 2019.

The site manager for Stillwater Supported Community Lifestyles said an employee told him that on Jan. 22 “she witnessed a co-worker by the name of Joseph Garcia getting physical with the clients in the home,” Stillwater Police Detective Mary Kellison wrote in an affidavit.

The employee said that the two clients liked to pace around as a self-soothing behavior, the affidavit said.

The employee said that she and the house manager “had several conversations with Joseph prior to this incident that employees cannot make the clients do anything whatsoever,” the affidavit said.

She said “Joseph knew what he did was wrong and had been told multiple times not to put his hands on clients,” the affidavit said.

In video footage, Garcia can be seen repeatedly pushing the two clients onto a couch, the affidavit said.

The clients are not verbal “and they can’t explain or describe what happened to them,” the affidavit said.

Each count of caretaker abuse of a vulnerable adult carries a maximum penalty of a 10-year prison term and a $10,000 fine on conviction, court records show.

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