Local Man Charged with Elder Abuse

By NANCY H. GONTER ngonter@repub.com

HADLEY-Mass. A South Hadley man is facing elder abuse charges after his 88-year-old great-aunt was discovered covered with filth and bedsores and wearing nylons that had been on so long they had become embedded in her skin, according to police reports.

Kevin R. Pietruskiewicz, 38, of 19 Shadowbrook Estates, pleaded innocent on Thursday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to a charge of permitting serious injury to an elderly or disabled person. He was released on his own recognizance.

On April 29, Pietruskiewicz called an ambulance to the home of Jeanette P. Wysocki at 31 Boyton Ave. and when police and firefighters arrived, they were stunned....

Wysocki's feet and ankles were black to the point Leary initially believed she was wearing socks. When she looked closer, she realized the woman was wearing nylons that had been on so long the skin had grown around them, the report states.

At Holyoke Medical Center, a nurse said she believed it had been weeks since Wysocki had been bathed and a doctor said it was unclear if her feet would have to be amputated.

Pietruskiewicz told police he had not bathed her, but had "sponged her down a little," according to the report. He also told police that she was walking and changing her clothes "just fine," police said.

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