Former Employee At Greer Center In Enid Says Facility Delayed Reporting Abuse

A former employee at a treatment center for adults with intellectual disabilities in Enid said the facility delayed reporting cases of abuse to the state.

The Enid Police Department said officers have arrested six suspects so far in its investigation into alleged abuse at the Robert M. Greer Center, a treatment facility for adults with intellectual disabilities and co-occurring mental illnesses and behavior challenges.

The latest suspect to turn himself in was 51-year-old Edward Webster, a former shift supervisor at the facility, police told News 9. Suspects who were previously arrested were 21-year-old Adlai Flores, 26-year-old Gavin Foster, 28-year-old Jonathan Orozco, 21-year-old Jonathan Martinez and 24-year-old Jhon Nieto.

The suspects each face complaints of abuse by caretaker and conspiracy.

According to affidavits written by the investigating detective, witnesses said some of the suspects used a bedsheet to choke a client who had the mental capacity of a 4-year-old. Once he became unconscious, the suspects beat him until he regained consciousness, the court documents said. A witness told investigators the abuse happened to the victim 40 times, the affidavits stated.

In another incident of alleged abuse, a witness told police the suspects used food from outside the facility to bribe one of the center's patients into beating another patient "on a regular basis," the affidavits said. The witness said the suspects targeted that patient because that patient "cuss(ed) them out." That patient also told police the suspects assaulted him, including punching and kicking him in the abdomen area, hitting him in the face, and choking him, according to the affidavits.

A former employee at the Greer Center said she knew of "broken ankles, black eyes" suffered by the clients at the hands of the suspects. The former employee said Martinez would allegedly hurt a client, then put in the critical incident report that the client had fallen in the shower.

The former employee said they reported two incidents of Martinez allegedly abusing non-verbal clients. But instead of firing him, the Greer Center transferred him to another building on campus, the former employee said.

"They knew it was happening but they were turning their head," the former employee said.

The former employee said they then reported the alleged abuse to Oklahoma Human Services Adult Protective Services before reporting the incidents to police in June.

The affidavits said Oklahoma Human Services' Office of Client Advocacy was looking into the alleged abuse, but "the investigations could not be substantiated due to the staff at the Greer Center not cooperating and the victims being either non-verbal, severely developmentally-delayed, or both."

A reason the state investigations were stalled was because the Greer Center delayed reporting the abuse, the former employee said.

"They waited until the injuries healed before they reported it to the state," the former employee told News 9. "There's a shoe print on my client's face. They didn't report that to the state until 30 days after. The picture they send in was the picture of 30 days, not the initial injury."

The former employee also said the Greer Center claimed some of the incidents were related to self-injurious behavior to avoid investigations.

News 9 reached out to Oklahoma Human Services to ask why the investigations by the Office of Client Advocacy could not be initially substantiated.

"At the beginning of these investigations, the incidents did not appear to be connected," an Oklahoma Human Services spokesperson said. "On Oct. 30, an individual came to the Enid Police Department to report abuse. After investigation of the report, law enforcement and the agency were able to begin connecting all of the incidents to reveal a pattern of abuse implicating several staff at the Greer Center. This necessitated immediate action to halt all new admissions and implement heightened scrutiny and safety protocols for the remaining residents."

News 9 then asked the state agency what the safety protocols are.

"Oklahoma Human Services has our own staff on-site on an ongoing basis for safety monitoring," the Oklahoma Human Services spokesperson said. "(Monday), we initiated immediate training at Greer to ensure the safety of our clients. Our Office of Client Advocacy provided training to Greer staff to reinforce any previous training regarding reporting abuse and neglect. Additional training and other remedial efforts will continue. Agency staff are also doing unannounced inspections around the clock."

News 9 went to the Greer Center on Thursday to seek comment, but the door was locked and staff did not answer.

Enid Police said they continue to receive reports of alleged abuse from other families and are working to determine if there are more suspects and victims.