Worker: State told of neglect before elderly couple died
By Associated Press
Published June 11, 2004
PANAMA CITY - A retirement home administrator says she repeatedly told two state agencies that a couple was being neglected by a minister and his wife who are now charged with exploiting them and other elderly church members. The couple later died.
Police officers support claims by Jane Jones, administrator of the Carriage Inn, that she began contacting the Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration three months before the first death.
"I told the police all the different ways we tried to get help, and they've got our documentation," Jones said .
Jerry Sewell, the DCF's regional manager, said state privacy law prevents him from commenting. Police records, however, indicate both agencies confirmed Jones had contacted them.
The Rev. James Sansom and his wife, Sandra, of nearby Fountain, are out on bail after being arrested Tuesday. They are accused of using their influence on health professionals and elderly members of Zion Ministries, a nondenominational church in Panama City, to steal more than $80,000.
The couple told health care officials they had power of attorney to make medical decisions for Lester and Beulah Hale when they lived at Carriage Inn, police said. Lester Hale died last July ; his wife died four months later.
Police also said the Sansoms deeded the Hales' home to themselves, emptied it and padlocked the front door.
The couple have not returned calls seeking comment. Court records did not indicate whether they had a lawyer.
James Sansom, 54, is charged with grand theft from a person older than 65, neglect of an elderly person and two counts of exploitation of the elderly. His wife is charged as being a principal to each of the counts her husband is facing. She also faces drug charges.
