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Caregiver admits to abusing cerebral palsy patient daily, police say

Police say video evidence of the abuse goes back two months.
Credit: Kenner PD

KENNER, La. — Authorities say a Kenner caretaker has been arrested after a "nanny cam" captured him hitting a bedridden man with cerebral palsy several times over the course of two months.

Police say the video evidence against 39-year-old Patrick Bowden goes back to January 2020, showing "extensive physical abuse" of the 26-year-old patient. The video allegedly shows Bowden shoving the victim's forehead, twisting his arm, slapping him and grabbing him by the neck.

Bowden was arrested on the night of Feb. 19 in his Kenner home. Police say he admitted to the abuse, telling them that he'd been abusing the cerebral palsy patient since September of 2019 when he started working as his caretaker.

"He knew he was causing pain to the victim," police said.

When asked why he would abuse the patient, Bowden said he suffered from PTSD, but admitted that he was never diagnosed with PTSD and had no reason to back up the self-diagnosis.

He is currently faces 10 counts of battery of the infirmed, but police believe that number will grow after they review more video.

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