A Nassau County jury convicted a former nursing home aide of sexually assaulting two residents with disabilities under his care, officials said Wednesday.
Phillip Harris, 43, of Central Islip, who worked for the Glengariff Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Glen Cove, was accused of abusing the two victims in March 2022, about three months after he was hired.
Glen Cove authorities were first alerted after one of the victims told his wife and daughter, who then notified the nursing home’s management. A subsequent investigation by the state attorney general’s office uncovered an additional assault.
On Wednesday, Harris was found guilty of nine charges related to the abuse, which New York Attorney General Letitia James called “despicable crimes [that] endangered vulnerable nursing home residents.”
The charges included three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, both felonies.
Harris was also charged with three counts of falsifying business records for allegedly making false statements during the investigation, but the jury acquitted him of those charges.
Harris is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 19, online court records show. He faces up to four years in prison for each felony charge, officials said.
“Every nursing home resident deserves high-quality care and should be able to trust that their caregivers will treat them with dignity and respect,” James said when announcing the conviction. “My office has brought him to justice,” she added. “I will not allow anyone to mistreat or take advantage of New York nursing home residents.”
