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Police: Sunmount resident stabs staffer in eye

TUPPER LAKE – A Sunmount staffer was hospitalized after a resident of a state group home she worked in allegedly stabbed her in the eye with a fork Monday.

State police charged John Harvey, 37, with second-degree assault and fourth-degree possession of a weapon after he allegedly assaulted Alisha Dukett, 19, of Tupper Lake at 5:30 p.m. at the group home on Hosley Avenue. Harvey was arraigned at the Tupper Lake town court and remanded back to Sunmount, according to state police.

Dukett was treated at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh and released. An eye specialist examined her and found she had been struck in the white of the eye, resulting in a broken blood vessel, according to Kristen Dukett, Alisha’s sister. Kristen said Alisha began working at Sunmount a few months ago.

Franklin County Assistant District Attorney David Hayes said he recommended Harvey be released to a secure branch of the Sunmount campus, but he could not confirm whether Harvey was put in a secure facility.

Village Mayor Paul Maroun, a member of Sunmount’s Board of Visitors, confirmed staff members’ statements that Harvey had previously been held in one of Sunmount’s secure facilities for higher-risk residents, though he did not know which one, before being moved to a community home.

“I’m sure the professional staff at Sunmount will be re-evaluating this man, and I’m confident that the person who did this will be going back to one of the secure facilities,” Maroun said. “These things happen from time to time. The clients are developmentally disabled, and sometimes, due to their condition or being off their medication, they act up. Our staff unfortunately sometimes get injured. We try to give clients the best medical care so they don’t react in this manner.”

This is not the first time problems have come from a Sunmount resident transferred from a secure facility to a less secure group home. Last year, Thomas Perrault was found guilty of third-degree assault after he dragged a female staff member into his room and attacked her at Sunmount’s group home at 390 Hosley Ave. Several registered sex offenders have also wandered off from group homes in recent years and been found hours later by police, one as far away as Jay. L.P. Quinn Elementary School is on Hosley Avenue near the group homes. Several Sunmount workers and community members have come forward with concerns about community and staff safety. One solution pushed by village Trustee Ron LaScala is a reverse-911 system that would alert community members of escaped sex offenders.

Harvey is not on the state sex offender registry.

One Sunmount employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, said direct care staff in the Center for Intensive Treatment, the highest-security section of Sunmount’s Tupper Lake campus, had previously warned that the attacker was dangerous and should not be moved from the CIT to a group home. The employee did not use Harvey’s name due to the federal patient privacy law.

“People at Sunmount don’t know why someone like that was moved,” the employee said. “Wouldn’t it be absolutely vital that everyone know why the person was being moved? Isn’t that a problem?

“How come the direct care staff aren’t listened to when they say, ‘This guy will not make it.’ They work with them 12 hours a day, (or more) with overtime. … The staff know these people inside and out, sometimes better than the clinicians, frankly.”

Bill Cramer, a former Sunmount employee who worked in one of Sunmount’s secure facilities for 12 years, said the attack came as no surprise to him.

“I’ve heard his name in numerous situations,” he said of the assailant – he also did not name Harvey due to the privacy law. “It’s no secret among staff that he’s not a safe individual.

“I’m not going to say abuse doesn’t happen from staff to the residents, either, because it does. They’re not here to be abused; they’re here to be helped. But staff aren’t protected like nurses and corrections officers if they’re assaulted. Until administration realizes that staff is what makes that place work and they start taking care of the staff, nothing’s going to get better.”

State Sen. Betty Little said there are “huge concerns about some of the people being moved from secure facilities to group homes,” but she also said blurred boundaries of disclosure make situations like this difficult.

“I think that we have to treat the consumers with confidentiality, and yet you have to let the public know when there is someone dangerous in their area,” Little said. She seemed concerned that some staff members feel ignored.

“The people that work at Sunmount have large caseloads and a lot of responsibility, so we do need to listen to their concerns,” she added. “I’ll certainly ask to see if their voices weren’t heard.”

The state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, which runs Sunmount, has said it will reduce the number of residents at Sunmount from 161 to 105 from 2015 to 2017. OPWDD spokeswoman Jennifer O’Sullivan wrote in an email Tuesday that the number has been relatively steady since 2015.

“Census at Sunmount’s main campus has remained consistent at around 160,” O’Sullivan wrote. “An individual is recommended for community placement when a team of highly trained clinicians has determined that he or she is ready for community living.

“The safety of OPWDD staff, the community and the individuals we support is of paramount importance and we are continuously evaluating service plans to ensure that proper supports and protections are in place to ensure this safety.”

O’Sullivan declined to comment on Harvey’s current status, due to confidentiality guidelines.

In a post on the Enterprise Facebook page, Sunmount employee Linda Hanlin of Tupper Lake was glad Harvey was arrested.

“Now let’s see if they will prosecute him!!” she added. “Enough of the staff having to work in UNSAFE CONDITIONS PERIOD!!!”

Sunmount staff members rarely comment by name on the institution’s issues, for fear of reprisal. The anonymous employee said staffers often feel like they receive more blame than Sunmount residents in incidents when they respond to dangerous behavior.

“The sentiment is there, and it affects morale and affects staff creativity and investment, and we have a less effective program overall because of it,” the employee said.

Is this fork attack a turning point?

“It has to be,” the employee said.

Managing Editor Peter Crowley contributed to this report.

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