5 employees charged in abuse investigation at Lexington County center for disabled

Five employees of a Lexington County facility for adults with disabilities have been arrested as part of an investigation into abuse, according to a statement from the sheriff’s department.

Celia Nesbitt, Erikca Fleming, Carolina Jankie, Roseola Minnifield and Sandra Tucker were arrested Wednesday in connection with incidents of abuse from January 2017 to April 2018, according to the statement.

Nesbitt was the only employee charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult, according to the statement. In April 2018 and at some point between January and March 2017, other employees saw Nesbitt assault multiple residents at the Babcock Center.

Investigators say the other four employees — Fleming, Minnifield, Roseola and Jankie — watched the assaults, but did not report the abuse, according to the statement. All four were charged with failure to report abuse of a vulnerable adult.

Fleming, Jankie, Minnifield and Tucker were taken to the Lexington County Detention Center and Nesbitt was transported to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.