Woman convicted of misdemeanor elder abuse

A former Willows woman convicted of misdemeanor elder abuse was sentenced to serve three years of formal probation Friday in Glenn County Superior Court.

Susan Ivy, a former Willows native currently living in Maryland, was also sentenced to serve 180 days in jail, but Judge Donald C. Byrd suspended the sentence.

District Attorney Robert S. Holzapfel recommended Ivy serve six months in the county jail and the judge agreed, but suspended the sentence pending completion of her probation.

In June, a Glenn County jury found Ivy not guilty of a felony count of inflicting pain upon an elder, but guilty of misdemeanor count of elder abuse.

"The jury found that it was not an intentional act, but a neglectful one," Ivy's attorney Harold Rosenthal said Friday. "But, she feels a very deep sense of shame."

Ivy, 58, was arrested Feb. 13, 2009 at her mother's home in the 400 block of South Culver Street.

"You were so intoxicated that you were unable to care for your own safety and, obviously, unable to care for your mother," Byrd noted Friday prior to handing down the sentence.

Police initially believed Ivy had assaulted her mother, Alice Culbertson, with a baking dish, but it was later learned that ivy never assaulted the 93-year-old woman and testimony revealed Culbertson's injuries were sustained when she fell while getting dressed.

Culbertson has since recovered and is "doing well," Byrd noted Friday.

However, Byrd said, the fact that Ivy is a professional hospice nurse in Maryland and that she was drunk to the point that she was unaware that her mother was in the same room and had fallen, showed Ivy "totally blew" the trust implied when caring for dependent elders.

With her hands shaking, a tearful Ivy read a statement of apology in open court, admitting an alcohol addiction for which she had voluntarily sought treatment, saying she has now been sober for nearly two years.

"I've made a career in the caregiving community," Ivy stated. "And that makes this all the more difficult."

Ivy said she has "learned there are some things I absolutely cannot do and some things I absolutely must do," referring to her treatment for alcoholism.

"I do apologize to my mother, my siblings, my daughter and to the court," Ivy read.

Ivy will serve her probation in Maryland. While on probation, is not allowed to see her mother without the supervision of another family member.

Contact Rob Parsons at 934-6800 or rparsons@tcnpress.com.