Tovale Kalati: Presbyterian Aged Care Ashfield worker guilty of assaults
The horrifying details of numerous assaults in an aged care home have been revealed after a worker pleaded guilty to seven charges. On one occasion the woman held a pillow over a 94-year-old dementia sufferer’s face before laughing at him.
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An aged care worker has pleaded guilty to assaulting seven vulnerable elderly residents at a nursing home in Sydney’s inner west.
Tovale Kalati, 57, from Yagoona, faced Burwood Local Court on Wednesday charged with assaulting seven patients - six men and one female resident at Presbyterian Aged Care in Ashfield.
In court, Kalati kept her head low and was expressionless as she pleaded guilty, through her lawyer, to assaulting seven residents.
The court heard she previously faced eight counts of assault but one charge was dropped.
Kalati had worked at the aged care home for 10 years before her employment was terminated last November after the allegations first came to light.
After a four-month investigation Burwood detectives swooped on her Palomar Parade home this February. She was arrested and slapped with multiple charges of assault.
From holding pillows to their faces to pushing towards the ‘groin area’ of another victim, agreed facts seen by NewsCorp reveal the horrific details of the abuse which dated from February to October 2019.
Agreed facts stated she worked at the nursing home where most residents suffered with “debilitating ailments and cognitive decline.”
One 94-year-old male resident, who suffered with dementia and prostate cancer, was assaulted by Kalati on a morning between last February and May.
Kalati and another nurse went to check on the resident at about 5am one morning.
While one nurse was lowering the bed of one resident, she heard “noises” coming from the victim.
“The accused who was standing next to the victim took a pillow with both hands and briefly place it on the victim’s face,” court documents state.
“The accused covered the victim’s face with the pillow for about a second, then lifted the pillow up and laughed at the victim.”
On another occasion, Kalati was to change the diaper of an 86-year-old male resident with a second nurse.
When the patient was lying face up Kalati and the other nurse took off his diaper before she “pushed” her hand towards the victim’s “groin” area.
“The victim almost jumped and said ‘what happened’ when Kalati said ‘for you not to play with that,’” court documents state.
The victim then said to the accused ‘I will F you.’”
After the ordeal the second nurse confronted Kalati who replied “Don’t you see how he looked at me?”
Another 82-year-old man was alleged to have been “pushed” towards his room after he was allegedly roaming the hallway last September.
A second nurse, who witnessed what happened, asked Kalati what happened to which she replied “you know he always does things like that.”
When the same nurse asked what happened to the victim he claimed “that woman hit me.”
The following day the victim told his brother what had happened before he raised the issue with the management team which was later reported to police.
The brother held a bible as he awaited the result from Monday’s court hearing.
Magistrate Susan Horan said the fact sheet was “problematic” and ordered a sentencing assessment report to be done.
Outside court, Kalati refused to speak to media and dashed out as nearby relatives tried to cover her with a blanket.
In a statement to NewsCorp, Presbyterian Aged Care said: “Presbyterian Aged Care (PAC) is aware of a guilty plea today to seven charges of assault by a former employee who worked at our Ashfield residential care service.
“We were very concerned to hear about the allegations when they were first made. We take such complaints extremely seriously and co-operated fully with all relevant government departments, including the Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission, and the police investigation since that time.
“PAC also conducted its own internal investigation into the events and took appropriate action to protect our residents, including terminating the employee last year. The relevant family members were promptly informed. The health and safety of our residents is our top priority at all times.”
Kalati who is on bail will return to court in October.